Michael P. Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||
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3rd President of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1995–1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Scott Slovic | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | John Tallmadge | ||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | December 6, 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Citizenship | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Michael P. Branch (born December 6, 1963) is an ecocritic, writer, and humorist with over three hundred publications, including work in The Best American Essays, The Best American Science and Nature Writing and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. [1] An important member of the environmental and writing community, Western American Literature has described him as part of the "enduring procession of outdoor journalists." [2]
His academic work has been called by reviewers as "an excellent entry to the field for the student or general reader who may have read considerably in the area but who is only beginning to make his or her way around the academic study of nature writing". [3] The Best Read Naturalist was called "[a] much needed and thorough collection of Emerson's most significant nature writings." [4]
When not writing, Branch enjoys activist and stewardship work, native plant gardening, bucking stovewood, playing blues harmonica, sipping sour mash, cursing at baseball on the radio, and walking at least 1,000 miles each year in the hills and canyons surrounding his high desert home.
Michael Branch received a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary in 1985. [5] He received a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Virginia. He currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is University Foundation Professor of English. [6]
One of the founders of ecocriticism, Branch co-founded the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) [7] and served as the president from 1995-1996. [8] He also worked as book review editor for the journal Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment [9] and co-edited the series Under the Sign of Nature published by The University of Virginia Press. [10]
His professional memberships include the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Everglades, Sierra Nevada Alliance, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Great Basin Mine Watch, Cenozoic Society's Wildlands Project, John Muir Society, Modern Language Association, American Association of University Professors, American Literature Association, American Society for Environmental History. [11]
Branch's writing career spans from academic articles to humor essays. His column for High Country News “Rants from the Hill” included 69 essays from 2010-2016, which were then collected into two books, Raising Wild and Rants from the Hill. [12] With over 200 publications and 300 invited talks, lectures, and workshops, Branch's work has aided in founding ecocriticism. [13] A selection of his work in ecocritcism includes:
A selection of his work in creative nonfiction includes:
The Michael P. Branch Papers are curated in the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Nevada, Reno. Established in 2014. 44 boxes to date. (Collection Identifier #2014-05). [14]
Michael P. Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3rd President of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office 1995–1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Scott Slovic | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | John Tallmadge | ||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | December 6, 1963 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Citizenship | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Michael P. Branch (born December 6, 1963) is an ecocritic, writer, and humorist with over three hundred publications, including work in The Best American Essays, The Best American Science and Nature Writing and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. [1] An important member of the environmental and writing community, Western American Literature has described him as part of the "enduring procession of outdoor journalists." [2]
His academic work has been called by reviewers as "an excellent entry to the field for the student or general reader who may have read considerably in the area but who is only beginning to make his or her way around the academic study of nature writing". [3] The Best Read Naturalist was called "[a] much needed and thorough collection of Emerson's most significant nature writings." [4]
When not writing, Branch enjoys activist and stewardship work, native plant gardening, bucking stovewood, playing blues harmonica, sipping sour mash, cursing at baseball on the radio, and walking at least 1,000 miles each year in the hills and canyons surrounding his high desert home.
Michael Branch received a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary in 1985. [5] He received a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Virginia. He currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he is University Foundation Professor of English. [6]
One of the founders of ecocriticism, Branch co-founded the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) [7] and served as the president from 1995-1996. [8] He also worked as book review editor for the journal Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment [9] and co-edited the series Under the Sign of Nature published by The University of Virginia Press. [10]
His professional memberships include the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Everglades, Sierra Nevada Alliance, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Great Basin Mine Watch, Cenozoic Society's Wildlands Project, John Muir Society, Modern Language Association, American Association of University Professors, American Literature Association, American Society for Environmental History. [11]
Branch's writing career spans from academic articles to humor essays. His column for High Country News “Rants from the Hill” included 69 essays from 2010-2016, which were then collected into two books, Raising Wild and Rants from the Hill. [12] With over 200 publications and 300 invited talks, lectures, and workshops, Branch's work has aided in founding ecocriticism. [13] A selection of his work in ecocritcism includes:
A selection of his work in creative nonfiction includes:
The Michael P. Branch Papers are curated in the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Nevada, Reno. Established in 2014. 44 boxes to date. (Collection Identifier #2014-05). [14]