Joe Whitson

American Studies Ph.D. | Environmental Humanities Postdoc @Harvard | Environmental Justice in Outdoor Recreation

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@CamdenBurd Hike Isle Royale a few years ago - beautiful but good luck with the bugs!

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@thejohnlegg I once got a request for a campus visit three months after applying - no communication before then, no first round interview - so you actually never know.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@DavidAstinWalsh Second folks who say Gov't if you can get in. PhD starts you at a GS-12 for most research jobs which translates to about $90k in Minneapolis and more in most east coast cities. Deloitte will start you at $195k but I've heard those firms really burn through folks.

[Jennifer Bendery @jbendery]

This is a BFD for a couple of reasons.

It likely means the government’s management of millions of acres of pristine public lands and natural resources will be better with tribal voices engaged.

It's also simply a matter of justice. https://t.co/mUmQyA84rP

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@jordanmonson This is my favorite Christmas playlist if you have spotify https://t.co/UtdYFZFBxP

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@JesseRitner8 Anything by N. K. Jemison.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

I need this validation today.

[Emma Bolden @emmabo]

i believe in one hard and fast universal writing rule: em dashes are amazing and you should use them whenever possible

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@MeredithAlberta “Indigenizing Instagram” does this somewhat.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

Nobody mistook the meaning when Melania wore a pith helmet to Kenya. Will we look back a hundred years from now and view a puffy jacket the same way? 4/4

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

When a NorthFace jacket is worn on a hike, it serves a practical purpose, but when it is on a runway, it transcends that purpose and becomes all symbol. What does a NorthFace puffy carry with it into the world of fasion? 1/
https://t.co/fEco7sj4kk

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

My mind, though, goes straight to the ethic of exploration. "Never Stop Exploring," right? This can mean a lot of good things in different contexts, but when we talk about outdoor recreation and physically being on the land, it is also deeply tied to colonization. 3/

[Nick Estes @nickwestes]

Yes, Pekka Hamalainen wrote a Native history book with a chapter titled “Reversed Colonialism,” claiming Native nations were imperialist. And he keeps winning awards for it. https://t.co/gKhhhtMsEH

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@MarkJWestpfahl East river, west river (Missouri River) is what folks say I think.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@MarkJWestpfahl Eastern Dakotas are agricultural, homestead act areas basically the same as western MN. Western Dakotas are ecologically and, risking being deterministic, therefore culturally pretty different. For IL, IN, OH, it's where the accents start to sound southern that does it for me.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@JimmySkuya @MarkJWestpfahl For sure! Southern Illinois and Indiana are the South.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

@Intelatin I don’t. I would love to see the details of their commitments though.

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

Overall, I think this is a creative, if not perfect, solution to @patagonia's contradiction of being a profit-driven corporation that demands continued growth at the same time as it seeks to promote environmental sustainability, but I have some thoughts 1/

[Patagonia @patagonia]

Hey, friends, we just gave our company to planet Earth. OK, it’s more nuanced than that, but we’re closed today to celebrate this new plan to save our one and only home. We’ll be back online tomorrow.
https://t.co/fvRFDgOzVZ

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

Also see @sarahmpicks thread.

[Sarah Pickman (is also on Bluesky) @sarahmpicks]

On the heels of today's @usuopdd Outdoor History Summit, some huge news from Patagonia. Yvan Chouinard has effectively given away the company to a pair of environmental trusts. The most remarkable example of a major outdoor gear company walking the walk that I can recall (1/?)

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

So, I think this will be important for climate change work and is an example of what a corporation might be able to do to mitigate its own impacts, but until Patagonia can address its colonial impacts, there is still work to be done. 8/8

[Joe Whitson @JoeWhitson]

Without dismissing the money the company has given to Indigenous causes and communities, its business model - and it's still a business first and foremost - relies on a land ethic that treats land as a commodity and fails to address the root of our ecological imbalance. 7/