FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2026
Bathsheba Demuth Named New Series Editor of Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books at the University of Washington Press, Following Paul S. Sutter’s Twelve Years of Leadership
SEATTLE, WA— The University of Washington Press welcomes environmental historian and author Bathsheba Demuth as the new series editor of Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books. Demuth, Dean’s Associate Professor of History and Environment and Society at Brown University, succeeds Paul S. Sutter, who has led the series since 2014.
“Paul’s dedicated and skilled editorship has kept Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books at the forefront of the field. For more than a decade, he has developed an exceptional list of award-winning books while nurturing a distinctive community of authors,” says University of Washington Press director Nicole Mitchell. “We’re delighted to have Bathsheba join us to succeed Paul. Her work exemplifies the ambitious, pathbreaking, and accessible environmental scholarship that has been a hallmark of the series since its inception.”
Demuth is the author of the acclaimed Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, an NPR Best Book of 2019 and New York Times Editor’s Choice pick. The book was longlisted for the 2020 Cundill History Prize and received awards from the American Historical Association, American Society for Environmental History, and the Western History Association, among other distinctions. Her writing has appeared in such publications as the American Historical Review, The New Yorker, and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021.
“I’m excited and honored to start this role with Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books—Paul and William Cronon before him really made this the premier environmental history series, one that has published some of my favorite books in the field,” Demuth commented. “I look forward to carrying on that legacy at a time when environmental history is more critical to our world than ever.”
Launched in 1991, Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books established the University of Washington Press as a leading publisher in environmental history. More than 80 books have been published in the series to date, defining and advancing the field. Grounded in US environmental history, the series has expanded across disciplines and geographies to examine the changing relationships among people, environments, and the nonhuman world.
During his tenure, Sutter mentored first-time authors and advanced one of the series’ core missions: to publish rigorous scholarship in engaging writing accessible to a broad range of readers. Books in the series have received awards and recognition from leading scholarly organizations, including the American Society for Environmental History, the Forest History Society, and the Western History Association, and have been widely reviewed in such publications as The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The Atlantic.
“Serving as series editor of Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books has been one of the great honors of my career,” Sutter noted, “but now is the right time for me to pass along the editorship, and I am thrilled that the series will be in Bathsheba’s capable hands. She is an acclaimed scholar who cares deeply about beautiful writing, and I have no doubt that she will take the series to new heights.”
Sutter is professor of history and College Professor of Distinction at the University of Colorado Boulder and vice president/president-elect of the American Society for Environmental History. His books include Driven Wild: How the Fight Against Automobiles Launched the Modern Wilderness Movement, published in the Weyerhaeuser series in 2002, and Let Us Now Praise Famous Gullies: Providence Canyon and the Soils of the South.
The Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books series was established with an endowment from the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, members of the Weyerhaeuser family, and Janet M. and John W. Creighton, former president of the Weyerhaeuser Company. The series was founded by William Cronon, a leading figure in modern US environmental history, whose strong vision shaped a nationally and internationally recognized collection of books.
During the current leadership transition, Sutter will continue to support the series, working closely as coeditor with Demuth, through the spring of 2027.
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For more information:
Molly Woolbright
Publicity Director
University of Washington Press
mwoolbri@uw.edu
(206) 221-4994
Photo of Bathsheba Demuth by Marlena Sloss for The Washington Post
