The American Society of Environmental History’s president, Professor Nancy Jacobs (Brown University), presented recent PhD graduate Dr Jessica Urwin her dissertation award at the Society's annual meeting in April 2024. Named after Rachel Carson, this award has never before recognised a thesis on an Australian topic.

The judges praised how Jessica's work 'problematizes and expands the concept of “nuclear colonialism” by showing how it was experienced and resisted through her exploration of nuclear processes, including radium and uranium extraction, nuclear weapons testing, and radioactive waste disposal.' The award committee was 'particularly impressed with how Urwin’s thesis charts the progression of Aboriginal nuclear survivors from individuals erased, dispossessed, displaced, and silenced by the state to active citizens exercising agency, working for recognition and compensation through a growing transnational Indigenous movement.'

Congratulations!