About Me

Peggy Smith Eppig

Environmental Historian 

I've always been interested in the lay of the land. How do landscapes form and what natural, physical, and human forces create them? How are we inspired by them? How is history shaped by them?

I took this interest to the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in the early '80s and graduated with a combined BFA in landscape, illustration, and education degree. I continue to paint landscapes, wildlife, and botanical illustration work on commission. After graduation I moved to South Carolina to work as a park naturalist and worked closely with Gullah communities on the Atlantic coast. I fell hard into birding as a volunteer with the Southeast Audubon Society and it was with birding that I became interested in the concepts of migration and intentional movement. 

I earned my PhD in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England with a focus on environmental history of the 20th century. I currently work for the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation in agriculture and natural resources education and serve as director for the Environmental Certificates Program at Goucher College. My independent research includes pilgrimage and conservation history. 

I have always included a hound or two in most of my explorations. Over the years there have been terriers and coonhounds. My current hiking companion is Amos The Minor Prophet, a handsome Black-and-Tan Coonhound rescue. 

Professional Bio:
http://www.goucher.edu/learn/academic-centers/people-politics-and-markets/faculty/peggy-eppig

Formal Courses Offered:

Global Environmental Change 500 -  Antioch University New England, Keene, NH  
Natural History of New Hampshire 300 - Keene State College, Keene, NH 
Agroecology 400 - Keene State College, Keene, NH 
Intro to Environmental Studies 100 -  Goucher College, Baltimore, MD 
Community-Based Conservation 600/Online - Goucher College 
Farm and Forest-Based Education 600/Online - Goucher College 

Informal Courses Offered:

Mid-Atlantic Natural History Adult Series -  Eden Mill Nature Center (1995 - 2010)
Leopold Land Ethic/ Leopold Education Project Adult / PD  Maryland Ag Ed Fdn (2010 - current)
Nature Journaling, Adult - EMNC and Deer Creek Quaker Meeting, (1995 - current)

Published Work:

Eppig, P. (2022) "Holy Enforcers: St. Cuthbert and St. Hubert." Chapter in Supernatural Gamekeepers. Richard Chacon, Ed. Springer. 

Eppig, P. (2018) “Ecology of Pilgrimage: Building Socio-Ecological Community on the Way." International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Vol. 6, Issue 2. Summer 2018.

https://arrow.dit.ie/ijrtp/vol6/iss2/7/

Eppig, P. (2017) “Russell Lord and the Permanent Agriculture Movement.”  Dissertation.

https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ETD_SUBID:153239

Eppig, P. (2012) “Farm Boundaries as Ecological Systems.”  Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies.  Vol. 79, Issue 4: 451-562.

Eppig, P. (2011) “What is Agroecology? (And Why Should We Care?)” Monadnock Table.  Vol. 2, Issue 7.

Eppig, P. (1999-2005) “The Naturalists Corner.”  Regular column. Pennsylvania Forestry Journal.

Presentations:

March 30, 2019. “Ecology of Pilgrimage, St. Cuthbert’s Way.” Fellowship Presentation. Americans on the Camino Annual Symposium, Black Mountain, N.C.

Oct. 8, 2017. “The Ecology of Pilgrimage.” Institute of Pilgrimage Studies Annual Symposium, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.

June 22, 2017. “Schoolgrounds for Learning.” Building A Land Ethic Conference. Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin. Baraboo.

May 26, 2017. “Sacrificial Landscapes and the Domestic War Economy: A Conservation Paradox.” War, Environment, Social Inequality, and Pro-Social Studies. Seville, Spain.

Oct. 21, 2016. “Sacrificial Landscapes: The Conservation Paradox of 20^th Sacrificial Lands and War Economies.” Lecture at Winthrop College, Rock Hall, SC

May 10, 2016. “Russell Lord and the Permanent Agriculture Movement.” Dissertation defense, public seminar. Antioch University New England, Keene, NH.

Professional Associations:

Association for Environmental Sciences and Studies

Association for the Study of Literature and Environment

American Society for Environmental History

European Society for Environmental History

                                                           

Institute for Pilgrimage Studies

Forest History Society

War, Environment, Social Inequality, and Peace Studies Working Group