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About

My research interests lie predominantly in animal, environmental and cultural history. They initially focused on modern French history and the environmental history of war, and have since branched out into animal history, the history of emotions, the history of medicine, urban history, and transnational history.

I am currently working on two Wellcome-funded projects. I am Principal Investigator on Melting Metropolis: Everyday Histories of Heat and Health in London, New York, and Paris since 1945 (funded by a Wellcome Discovery Award), which runs from 2023-2029, working with colleagues at Liverpool and Queens College, CUNY, as well as Research Artist Bryony Ella. As part of this project, I am working on a book on the history of the British summertime. I am also Co-Investigator, leading the History Work Package, on an interdisciplinary project researching street dogs in India (funded by a Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award),which you can find out more about on the ROH-Indies website.

My most recent book Dogopolis: How Dogs and Humans Made Modern New York, London, and Paris was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2021, and explores the role and presence of dogs as workers, pets, pests, and beyond in nineteenth and twentieth century London, New York, and Paris. It is being translated into Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. In November 2024 I will publish my first trade book, on the history of dogs, with Profile Books, Collared: How We Made the Modern Dog

ORCID: 0000-0002-0556-1929