Joanna L. Dyl is a native Californian who grew up in various ecosystems of the American West. She earned her B.A. from Stanford University and her Ph.D. from Princeton University. At Princeton, she discovered the field of environmental history, which allowed her to merge her love of history with her passion for the environment. Her dissertation received the Rachel Carson Prize for the best dissertation from the American Society for Environmental History.

Her book, Seismic City: An Environmental History of San Francisco’s 1906 Earthquake, combines her interests in urban environmental history and natural disasters. Her other research interests include coastal environments and environmental justice. She is currently working on a project on American beaches.

Dyl is currently a visiting lecturer in the Department of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College. She has taught Introduction to Environmental Analysis and Environmental Justice through Pomona, Scripps College, and Harvey Mudd College. She previously taught both history and environmental studies at the University of South Florida, Franklin & Marshall College, and the University of Redlands. She also spent a year at Amherst College theorizing about catastrophe as a fellow with the Copeland Colloquium.

When not working, Dyl is a competitive volleyball player who was good enough to have lost to numerous pros and even a couple of Olympians. She also enjoys yoga, hiking, and reading fantasy and science fiction. She currently lives in Southern California only a few miles from the San Andreas Fault.