Leisl Carr Childers

Dr. Carr Childers’s research focuses on the American West, specifically the environmental history and management of the region’s public lands. Her first book, The Size of the Risk: Histories of Multiple Use in the Great Basin (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015), won the Western Writers of America 2016 Spur Award for Contemporary Nonfiction. Her research has been featured on KNPR's State of Nevada, Bundyville (Season 1) and Voices from Your Public Lands (Episode 7) podcasts, PBS Frontline (American Patriot), and in the High Country News. Her digital projects have included the Nevada Test Site Oral History Project and student-driven projects such as My National Parks.

Dr. Carr Childers is actively engaged in scholarly research and production in her fields of study. Currently, she is a co-primary investigator with Michael Childers on the USDA Forest Service History project that covers the development of the agency from 1960 to the present. She is also facilitating the Art of Ranching project with CSU Extension and ranchers in Colorado counties. She is a member of the university's Climate Adaptation Partnership and the Public and Environmental History Center. She is an active member of the Western History Association, the American Society for Environmental History, and the National Council on Public History.