The Mojave Project

Sarah Keyes is assistant professor of history at the University of Nevada, Reno. She earned her BA from Pomona College in 2004 and her PhD from the University of Southern California in 2012. A specialist in the history of the U.S. West and the environment, she has received fellowships from numerous institutions, including the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Mellon Foundation. In 2008 she received the Louis Pelzer Memorial Award from the Organization of American Historians for the best essay written by a graduate student. Her recent publications in academic journals include “From Stories to Salt Cairns: Uncovering Indigenous Influence in the Formative Years of the Oregon Historical Society, 1898–1905,” Oregon Historical Quarterly; “Western Adventurers and Male Nurses: Indians, Cholera, and Masculinity in Overland Trail Narratives,” Western Historical Quarterly; and “‘Like a Roaring Lion’: The Overland Trail as a Sonic Conquest,” Journal of American History. She has also contributed her expertise to the Washington Post, Nevada Humanities, C-SPAN’s American History TV, and A&E Network’s History Channel.