Skip to main content My Account Off-Campus Access Give 24/7 Chat Meet with a Librarian Directory Library Services Technical Support Submit a Digital Sign Give Newsletters Social Media

Shields Library is closed through January 1. Requests for books, digitization services, and interlibrary loan will be fulfilled after the new year.

Michael Montgomery

1st Place

Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences 2020

My topic was deliberately interdisciplinary, such that many of my ideas would have been impossible to substantiate, and would likely never have occurred to me, without access to the library’s great variety of resources.

Michael Montgomery

Gary Snyder’s Pleistocene Environmentalism

Research paper for University Writing Program 102C: Writing in History

Read Michael’s Paper (pdf)

Project Description

Montgomery’s paper focuses on how the study of the Ice Age informed the environmental ethic of renowned poet, environmental activist and UC Davis Professor Emeritus Gary Snyder, and the importance of this “Pleistocene Environmentalism” to creating a sustainable future. Among other sources for his research, Montgomery drew from Snyder’s poetry and personal manuscripts, which are part of the library’s Archives and Special Collections.

In Their Own Words

Read Michael’s reflective essay from their Lang Prize application.