Public Note on the Creation of the Mexican Society of Environmental History (SOMHA)
On Wednesday, April 2, at 10:30 a.m., the Mexican Society of Environmental History (SOMHA) was publicly announced in a hybrid meeting that took place at the city of San Luis Potosí. The event was attended by 75 people and took place during the Environmental History Week 2025, which was organized by the Colegio de San Luis and the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí.
SOMHA is composed of a seven-member board divided into three positions and four heads of committees. The positions are: President, Vice President, and Secretary. The committees are responsible for implementing specific plans for Communications, Advocacy and Social Engagement, Learning outreach, and Intersectionality. At the time of its formation, the SOMHA board is composed as follows: President: Dr. Martha Micheline Cariño Olivera, in recognition of her extensive career and contributions in the field of Environmental History, Autonomous University of Baja California Sur. Vicepresident: Dr. Iván Alejandro López Nieto, Autonomous University of Coahuila. Secretary: Dr. Diana Alejandra Méndez Rojas, National School of Anthropology and History (INAH). Communications: Dr. Cintia Velázquez Marroni, Dr. José María Luis Mora Research Institute. Advocacy and Social Engagement: Dr. Gerardo Morales Jasso, postdoctoral fellow at the Potosino Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, and Dr. Ivett Peña Azcona, postdoctoral fellow at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur. Learning Outreach: Dr. Jahzeel Aguilera Lara, National School of Earth Sciences, UNAM. Intersectionality: Dr. Andrea B. Rodríguez Figueroa, Faculty of Architecture, UNAM.
SOMHA has an intense work agenda ahead, with its Board making progress on several fronts. Among these are preparations for its First Symposium, which will take place in La Paz, Baja California Sur, in the fall of 2026. It will also host its first formal Assembly. In the coming months, we will report on this and other progress in the work plan through SOMHA's current primary means of communication, somha.coord@gmail.com.
We would like to thank everyone who has already expressed interest, attended the presentation, and/or registered in the SOMHA database. We also appreciate the support of the SOLCHA presidency in making this initiative possible.
The creation of SOMHA is the result of the collaborative work of early career researchers from various Mexican academic institutions, who followed up on the intention expressed at the 11th Symposium of the Latin American and Caribbean Society of Environmental History (SOLCHA), held in Morelia, Michoacán, in June 2023. At that time, the desire and need to form a group that would bring together and enhance the diverse contributions of environmental history in and about our country was identified; something that had been a long-awaited goal for many years. Between June 2023 and March 2025, a working group conducted sample surveys, analyzed results, and held Saturday discussion meetings, culminating in the drafting of a by-law (inspired by that of SOLCHA) and the articulation of a public event to, finally, materialize the creation of SOMHA.
SOMHA is a network that brings together those who study, research, and disseminate the history of the relationships between societies and non-human nature in and about Mexico. It is also an organization that, based on the objectives and functions of an academic body, goes further by expanding its scope to include social engagement and learning outreach. Those of us who constitute SOMHA believe that environmental history is transdisciplinary, as it includes the participation of actors outside of academia: local, state, and federal governments; environmentalists and activists; indigenous and Afro-descendant communities; artists; neighborhood associations; and a long list of others. In this sense, SOMHA's vision of environmental history involves respecting and accepting the coexistence of diverse knowledges and visions about our planet and those who inhabit it, in order to build the just, inclusive, and equitable futures we desire.
Flyer for the first meeting