Why do humans fail to act in their own interest when it comes to the environment, despite knowing what ought to be done? This is the question that Erica Schoenberger, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, addressed in her 2014 book, Nature, Choice, and Social Power, and one that she plans to explore further as a newly named 2020 Guggenheim Fellow.

The intersection of environmental history and capitalism will be the focus of Schoenberger’s latest research, which she believes will bring into question commonly held views about how capitalism came to exist. Among the issues she plans to address: the possibility of a market economy that serves the interests of 99 percent of the masses without harming the environment.