Alison Laurence
@dinostalgia.bsky.social
Cultural historian of extinction at work on DINOSTALGIA, a book about how dinosaurs became cultural artifacts, consumer goods, and spokes-creatures for consumption | Instructor @ UC Santa Cruz | Editor @ Contingent Magazine
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
Here's an example of what we're after: the WPA Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, seen as a way to cash in on tourists that the stony faces of former U.S. presidents—then being carved into the sacred Six Grandfathers on Oceti Sakowin lands—would draw to the Black Hills. livingnewdeal.org/sites/dinosa...
October 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Here's an example of what we're after: the WPA Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, seen as a way to cash in on tourists that the stony faces of former U.S. presidents—then being carved into the sacred Six Grandfathers on Oceti Sakowin lands—would draw to the Black Hills. livingnewdeal.org/sites/dinosa...
A call for 🦕🦖🦣 contributors! With Victor Monnin, I'm editing a collection about extinct animal parks—it's a field guide, of sorts, that turns a critical eye on places real, imagined, and yet to be. Find the full CFP for LANDS OF THE LOST here: tinyurl.com/dinoparks #PaleoSky #HistSci #EnvHist #STS
October 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
A call for 🦕🦖🦣 contributors! With Victor Monnin, I'm editing a collection about extinct animal parks—it's a field guide, of sorts, that turns a critical eye on places real, imagined, and yet to be. Find the full CFP for LANDS OF THE LOST here: tinyurl.com/dinoparks #PaleoSky #HistSci #EnvHist #STS
And here's the "Monsters" CFP in meme form...
Credit for the original painting: comic book artist Johnny Craig
Credit for the original painting: comic book artist Johnny Craig
October 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM
And here's the "Monsters" CFP in meme form...
Credit for the original painting: comic book artist Johnny Craig
Credit for the original painting: comic book artist Johnny Craig
Doing a fridge worth of dishes—because !what joy! my fridge died and the room temp leftovers aren’t worth risking—but at least there’s a jolly view. The forbidden circus beckons.
September 25, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Doing a fridge worth of dishes—because !what joy! my fridge died and the room temp leftovers aren’t worth risking—but at least there’s a jolly view. The forbidden circus beckons.
Scenes from the periphery of Race the Wave, a tsunami evacuation fun run in Santa Cruz. We started on the wharf, the one that partially collapsed last December, and raced to higher ground where an emergency preparedness resource fair greeted folks at the finish line. (I live in the inundation zone.)
September 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Scenes from the periphery of Race the Wave, a tsunami evacuation fun run in Santa Cruz. We started on the wharf, the one that partially collapsed last December, and raced to higher ground where an emergency preparedness resource fair greeted folks at the finish line. (I live in the inundation zone.)
My teenage neighbor acquired a free drum kit. Eager to see what effect this has on my writing!
(My neighborhood is preternaturally noisy, on account of the amusement park at the end of the block. Why not add some snare and cymbal crashes to the symphony of rollercoasters? Genuinely happy for him!)
(My neighborhood is preternaturally noisy, on account of the amusement park at the end of the block. Why not add some snare and cymbal crashes to the symphony of rollercoasters? Genuinely happy for him!)
September 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
My teenage neighbor acquired a free drum kit. Eager to see what effect this has on my writing!
(My neighborhood is preternaturally noisy, on account of the amusement park at the end of the block. Why not add some snare and cymbal crashes to the symphony of rollercoasters? Genuinely happy for him!)
(My neighborhood is preternaturally noisy, on account of the amusement park at the end of the block. Why not add some snare and cymbal crashes to the symphony of rollercoasters? Genuinely happy for him!)
I’d talk about my ANTI-EXTINCTION syllabus. In theory I am teaching a version of this course for a continuing studies program next winter so (if the enrollment gods smile on me) I’d also reflect on lessons learned. Curious to hear how others are teaching extinction!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
August 18, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I’d talk about my ANTI-EXTINCTION syllabus. In theory I am teaching a version of this course for a continuing studies program next winter so (if the enrollment gods smile on me) I’d also reflect on lessons learned. Curious to hear how others are teaching extinction!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
This is my best excuse to post my Attenbros slide, which elicits polite laughs from undergrads.
August 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
This is my best excuse to post my Attenbros slide, which elicits polite laughs from undergrads.
In the spirit of syllabus season, here’s a link to an extinction studies course of the #envhist #envhum variety. From the dodo to dire wolves...Please borrow, adapt, share!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
cc: @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
cc: @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social!
August 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
In the spirit of syllabus season, here’s a link to an extinction studies course of the #envhist #envhum variety. From the dodo to dire wolves...Please borrow, adapt, share!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
cc: @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social!
drive.google.com/file/d/1SzKp...
cc: @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social!
This one's for the taxidermy curious. We are legion, yeah?
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
August 7, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This one's for the taxidermy curious. We are legion, yeah?
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
Fire hazard is higher than usual in the Santa Cruz Mountains right now, with dry winds a'gusting. Pyrotechnics are illegal and inadvisable. So I'm marveling at botanical fireworks instead... the California tree poppy (Romneya coulteri) is a rhizomatic and dramatic beauty. Collective awe indeed!
July 4, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Fire hazard is higher than usual in the Santa Cruz Mountains right now, with dry winds a'gusting. Pyrotechnics are illegal and inadvisable. So I'm marveling at botanical fireworks instead... the California tree poppy (Romneya coulteri) is a rhizomatic and dramatic beauty. Collective awe indeed!
I spent #NoKings Day in a place with an appropriately regal name—Point Reyes Station. It's an unincorporated area of West Marin, population < 1,000. Triple digits turned out to protest! A fair few of us were in town to hear @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social talk living rivers @pointreyesbooks.bsky.social.
June 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I spent #NoKings Day in a place with an appropriately regal name—Point Reyes Station. It's an unincorporated area of West Marin, population < 1,000. Triple digits turned out to protest! A fair few of us were in town to hear @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social talk living rivers @pointreyesbooks.bsky.social.
I created a new #envhum / #envhist course for my school's summer session! EXTINCTION & JUSTICE focuses on unnatural histories of species loss. It considers conservation efforts & "de-extinction" projects alongside questions of multispecies justice.
It's getting axed for lack of enrollment...🦤 🦬 🐺 🦣
It's getting axed for lack of enrollment...🦤 🦬 🐺 🦣
June 6, 2025 at 3:18 PM
According to folk etymology, maybe true but probably not, the word "capricious" derives from the unpredictable nature of caprids. This fellow, though, he's anything but changeable. Constant as the California sun.
June 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
According to folk etymology, maybe true but probably not, the word "capricious" derives from the unpredictable nature of caprids. This fellow, though, he's anything but changeable. Constant as the California sun.
The abatement herd is back in town for targeted grazing.
@ Neary Lagoon in Santa Cruz, CA.
@ Neary Lagoon in Santa Cruz, CA.
June 2, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The abatement herd is back in town for targeted grazing.
@ Neary Lagoon in Santa Cruz, CA.
@ Neary Lagoon in Santa Cruz, CA.
The Vampire Lestat, all 21 hours and 41 minutes of it, got me through an absurd commitment to daily jump roping during the month of May. My legs are grateful to the human narrator Simon Vance for keeping me distracted. AI audiobooks could never!
May 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The Vampire Lestat, all 21 hours and 41 minutes of it, got me through an absurd commitment to daily jump roping during the month of May. My legs are grateful to the human narrator Simon Vance for keeping me distracted. AI audiobooks could never!
The absolute embarrassment of ambition! One aspires (albeit reluctantly) to ascend, acts on it at last, and is IMMEDIATELY cast back down to Earth.
May 8, 2025 at 4:26 AM
The absolute embarrassment of ambition! One aspires (albeit reluctantly) to ascend, acts on it at last, and is IMMEDIATELY cast back down to Earth.
On December 23, a portion of the Santa Cruz wharf collapsed into Monterey Bay. The beaches are busy with debris--pylons, memorial bench fragments, rusted metal that threatens tetanus. Some sea lions have washed ashore too. An anonymous neighbor erected driftwood gravestones in their memory.
January 2, 2025 at 9:33 PM
On December 23, a portion of the Santa Cruz wharf collapsed into Monterey Bay. The beaches are busy with debris--pylons, memorial bench fragments, rusted metal that threatens tetanus. Some sea lions have washed ashore too. An anonymous neighbor erected driftwood gravestones in their memory.
The neighborhood osprey found me before any of the more likely candidates!
January 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The neighborhood osprey found me before any of the more likely candidates!
Wading into this blue space with a scene from the San Lorenzo, witnessed on an otherwise ordinary walk to the grocery store. There was a decisive dive, a frantic splash, and a meal made. The seal swam away fast, glancing back several times (!) before disappearing fish-and-all into the dark water.
December 6, 2024 at 6:51 PM
Wading into this blue space with a scene from the San Lorenzo, witnessed on an otherwise ordinary walk to the grocery store. There was a decisive dive, a frantic splash, and a meal made. The seal swam away fast, glancing back several times (!) before disappearing fish-and-all into the dark water.