Professional Affiliation

Associate Professor, Youngstown State University

Expert Bio

Brian Bonhomme is Associate Professor of Russian History at Youngstown State University. His research focuses on environmental history themes in Russian history. He has published on Russian forest history in the era of the Bolshevik Revolution, nineteenth century animal rights activism in Saint Petersburg, species-preservation in Imperial Russia, and Russian geographical exploration, among other topics. His present research examines the Russian presence in Alaska and the North Pacific through the lens of environmental history.

Wilson Center Project

"The Role of the North Pacific in the Formation of Russian National Identity"

Project Summary

This research project examines the impact upon Russian national and imperial identity of Russian encounters with the North Pacific and Alaska during the eighteenth century. Particular emphasis is given to the role played by the transition from Russia's traditional land-based and contiguous expansion to increasingly far-flung operations in marine environments following the discovery of Alaska in 1741.

Major Publications

• Russian Exploration, from Siberia to Space: A History. Jefferson, SC: McFarland, 2012.
•  “Russian Compassion: The Russian Society for the Protection of Animals – Founding and Contexts, 1865-75. The Canadian Journal of History/Annales Canadiennes d’Histoire XLV (Autumn 2010): 259-97.
•  “For the ‘Preservation of Friends’ and the ‘Destruction of Enemies’: Studying and Protecting Birds in Imperial Russia.” Environment and History 13 (2007): 71-100.