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Ellen Arnold

@medievalpenguin.bsky.social
3.6K followers 522 following 1K posts

Medievalist, environmental historian, penguin historian. Incoming editor of Environmental History. Author of Medieval Riverscapes, Negotiating the Landscape, and Water in World History. EFArnold.com Penguin (even when you struggle you're still a penguin)

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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Also check out Vicki Szabo Monstrous Fishes and the Mead-Dark Sea.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I don't know about hunting, but they def took advantage of strandings. origins.osu.edu/connecting-h...
origins.osu.edu
Washed Ashore: Marine Mammals from Medieval Times to Today
Pilot whales stranded on Farewell Spit, 2015. On 13 February 2015, 198 pilot whales stranded in Golden B
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Excellent news!!! www.iceho.org/news/2026/9/...
iceho.org
The Fifth World Congress of Environmental History — ICEHO
The next World Congress of Environmental History is set to take place in Toronto, Canada, in 2030.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
In an article on his arrival to NYC in 1940, Newsweek described Dugan the penguin as being almost three feet tall or "nearly twice as much as a run-of-the-ice penguin."
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I was interviewed for the BBC Program The History Hour! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...
bbc.co.uk
BBC World Service - The History Hour, Voting for water and surviving a hurricane
Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Trying to do an hour today on penguins during September. Yesterday and today I was working on the story of Dugan, who was (not) the first emperor penguin brought North.
A clipping from the NYT of an emperor penguin, with a caption that reads "A South Polar 'Emperor' Visits US."
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
That's insane
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Daniel Macfarlane @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My oped in the Washington Post about "Lake America" www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | ‘Lake America’ won’t happen. But Trump’s insult is foreboding.
The lake is Canadian in every way that matters. No U.S. executive order can change that.
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Robert Groß @robertgro5.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Early-career researchers and researchers from low-income countries need your help. @eseh.bsky.social has launched a campaign to raise funds for travel grants for the next conference in Salzburg in 2027. Donate now! #envhist #histtech www.betterplace.org/en/projects/...
betterplace.org
Travel Grants for ESEH Salzburg Conference 2027
Donate now to our ESEH Travel Grant Fundraising Campaign and help bring more diverse voices to Salzburg!
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Gabriella M. Petrick, Ph.D. 🍇🍇🍇 @gpetrick.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Check out the launch of @academic.oup.com Oxford Intersections: Environmental Change and Human Experience Here are the Food articles. If you are interested in writing for the Food series reach out! Many other cool topics as well academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
academic.oup.com
Oxford Intersections: Environmental Change and Human Experience
Abstract. Environmental change is a fundamental concern across the humanities and social sciences. This Intersection explores the changing interrelationshi
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
HAH! If there is reincarnation that might be my goal.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
20 years ago this month I started my first academic teaching job post-grad school--a year as a visiting lecturer at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, where I had wonderful models from my colleagues of how to be generous, rigorous, and caring teachers and kind and supportive colleagues.
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American Medieval Podcast @americanmedieval.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
HEY THIS IS THIS WEEK. WE HAVE A SPECIAL, NEW FEATURE COMING ON THE PODCAST. ME & @lollardfish.bsky.social AND @tlecaque.bsky.social GET TOGETHER ONCE/ MONTH AND TALK ABOUT "MEDIEVAL IN THE NEWS" IT'S VERY GOOD AND YOU SHOULD LISTEN/ SUBSCRIBE --> AmericanMedieval.com
americanmedieval.com
American Medieval Podcast
A podcast about the Middle Ages (with an American twist), hosted by Professor Matthew Gabriele.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What fun
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Ah so cool!! It's real!
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Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
ICYMI, I wrote about the "editor impersonation" scam that authors are being bombarded with, and why frauds that play on your dreams of success and recognition are so powerful. Free post, but please subscribe if you can! www.patreon.com/MikeRothschi...
patreon.com
Beware the Editor Impersonation Scam | Mike Rothschild
It's every writer's dream come true. You're toiling along at your day job or on your latest pitch, hoping that this is the one that finally
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It is SO frustrating thank you for calling it out!
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Seems like @martinbauch.bsky.social and I both told the reporter similar things--yeah, 1340s were not a fun time to live in Northern/Central Europe.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Some of my amazing colleagues wrote a paper in Nature about re-visiting medieval floods. Here's a Science article about it that I was interviewed for. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Medieval Europe was battered with 16 catastrophic floods in just 2 years
The intense deluges, never before documented, represent the highest number of back-to-back extreme weather events in the past 700 years
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
@tsoens.bsky.social edited volume 3!
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I am so excited that this is finally out! The series is the work of an amazing set of historians. I edited volume 2, with contributions from @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social and many others --intended for general reference and classroom use. Tell your librarians!!! www.bloomsbury.com/us/cultural-...
Picture of a book: A Cultural History of the Environment in the Age of Emperors, edited by Ellen Arnold. There is a medieval elephant on the cover.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
And if someone came up with a strong assignment or lesson plan around it, that's the kind of thing I'd love to see published by Germinate! www.aseh.org/Germinate-En...
aseh.org
American Society for Environmental History - Germinate: Environmental History Review
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This would be an EXCELLENT class project for a Canadian or North American EH class.....
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Dr. Black's Medieval Remedies @winstonblack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My god, what an image. Dead kings in a plastic box, carried off as the world burns.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
And there are also some hand-made penguins--this one personalized with the collector's name. I find "Karen" the penguin kind of charming.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This collection also includes a nice sampling of plastic penguin toys--ranging from traditional wind-up walking penguins to the quite questionable "penguin pooper." This also includes a Mary Poppins promo and an Avon summer straw cooler (an overlap with penguins and drinks--more on that soon)
A set of six plastic penguin toys--two blue and white wind up penguins, a penguin that poops candy (I can assure you penguin poop is NOT a treat), and other promotional toys.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
One syllabus down, two to go!
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I am beginning to book Public Scholar workshops for spring. I am bad at self-promotion but good at teaching people to bring their ideas to new and larger audiences. It's mid-August. Surely you will soon be planning your faculty workshops in January through May. www.davidmperry.com/go-public/
davidmperry.com
The Public Scholar Workshop
There’s no such thing as the Ivory Tower. Colleges and universities are not isolated enclaves, and they probably never were. Public engagement is an essential part of the core mission of higher educat...
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Those look amazing
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I am so excited to read this.
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Daniella M. @farsouthhistory.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
We are so pleased that this book, a project about 3 years in the making, is now out and available. Thank you so much to the contributors for making it happen! #envhist #envhum #histsci #STS #museumstudies #exploration #Antarctica #polar #oceanhist
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
To the outside observer, I didn't do enough today. But I know better.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I've been spending some time moving books around and getting my home office set up. I described it to my husband as "mis-en-place" for the semester.
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Gabriella M. Petrick, Ph.D. 🍇🍇🍇 @gpetrick.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Putting a panel/roundtable together with @drchrisdeutsch.bsky.social for ASEH. Join us. Maybe I'll even do a cool agro tour of central VA--off book. Know lots of great producers in the foothills of the Blue Ridge. Also join the Food & the Environment SIG. DM with your email & I'll add you
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
These ones are being immediately re-donated.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
So, this is my absolute least favorite kind of penguin kitsch: the penguins with polar bears or igloos. This is common, especially at Christmas, when the polar zones seem to become indistinguishable--they are simply "cold." One is a coca-cola collab--coke has used penguins several ways over time.
Three porcelain? items--a jar lid, a trinket jar, and a small decorative piece all featuring polar bears and penguins playing around human material culture--sleds, igloo, and (???) a wooden barrel?
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
So pretty
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UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
archaeologyorkney.com
Two Orkney-led PhDs available as part of North Sea Heritage project
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
And here's the overview. I'll post some more detail about specific items over the next few days as I figure out more about some of them.
A coffee table full of penguins most from the 80s and 90s, ranging from salt shakers to Christmas ornaments.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Starting off strong with a handmade paper watch.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Those of you who were connected with me on the other site might remember that during the pandemic I fell into probably the least probable online scam ever--I paid thousands of dollars for a fake penguin collection. (Ebay reimbursed me) Well.....today I had more luck. Nowhere near the scale, but:
A large cardboard box hastily folded closed with "Breakable Pengins" written on it.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Alt text: a group of seven "dancers" in bulky penguin costumes being instructed by a woman wearing a long dress and a tropical flower headdress.
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Can you tell I've stolen a day to work on penguins? This was published in the Illustrated London News in 1933, for the Jubilee of the Royal College of Music
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Ummmmm...... yes please. www.countryfrenchinteriors.com/product/pair...
countryfrenchinteriors.com
Pair of Mid-Century French Outdoor Weathered Painted Stone Penguin Sculptures - Country French Interiors
Add character and charm to a front entry, garden, or terrace with this delightful pair of antique French “Pingouins” (penguins). Crafted in France from heavy cast stone, each sculptural bird stands up...
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
From an 1868 newspaper description of the penguin at the Regent's Park zoo: "looking not unlike a lump of a boy with an overcoat to big for him."
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Only 12.47 gets you 11 chapters on objects ranging from greenhouses and ship's stores to snowflakes and, well, penguin eggs!
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The edited collection that I contributed a chapter on penguin eggs to is part of Berghan Books' summer sale! www.berghahnbooks.com/title/McCahe...
berghahnbooks.com
Antarctic Materialities | Berghahn Books
Independent Publishing since 1994
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
OMG I saw this in Bochum in Germany during my exchange year. In a specially built theater. INSANE
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Water in World History is part of Routledge's Summer Sale! If you assign the book in class, I'm happy to talk about the possibility of zooming in to meet your students! www.routledge.com/Water-in-Wor...
routledge.com
Water in World History
This book takes a thematic approach to the global history of water, covering a wide range of human interactions with water and the ways in which it carries both life and death. Water is one of the mos...
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Ellen Arnold @medievalpenguin.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Which org?
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