Joanna Linzer is a historian of Japan, researching the environmental and social consequences of developments in industry and agriculture.​

Joanna earned a BA in History at Yale University and an AM from Harvard’s Regional Studies–East Asia program. Her dissertation research focused on the environmental consequences of ironmaking in Japan during the early modern period (1603-1868) and deep into the twentieth century. Through exploring the development of the iron industry and the communities that supported it, her research engages questions of the environmental politics of past societies and the history of sustainability.

As an Environmental Fellow, Joanna works with Professors Ian Miller and Andrew Gordon to develop a book manuscript based on her dissertation. She is exploring two new environmental history projects related to two historical moments when Japan was increasingly enmeshed in global networks. The first examines the development of geothermal power in modern Japan. The second investigates the critical place of Japan in the global silver economy that forged transoceanic connections during the early modern period.​

Faculty Hosts: Ian Miller and Andrew Gordon, History