│By Vanessa Bateman, ESEH-Gale Fellow│
When I received the 2024/2025 ESEH-Gale Non-Residential Fellowship in Digital Environmental History I was just starting the early stages of my first solo book project. I had done enough research to develop my book’s main themes, structure, and research questions, but I had not started the writing process because I still had some gaps to fill.
As someone new to the Digital Humanities (DH), I applied to the Gale Fellowship because I wanted to learn how DH methodologies could elevate my research and eventually expand my output beyond a traditional academic book. As a Gale Fellow, I received training in different research and analysis methods that could be achieved in Gale Digital Scholar Lab, and access to the Gale Primary Sources.
Below I share an account of how I had to problem solve and pivot my research in the digital space, and some findings I made that will be useful in the future. Sharing moments when research didn’t go according to plan, I believe, is just as important as a polished finished project.