Bennett Koerber, Ph.D. 2021
I work for a litigation and environmental research company where I serve as a historical consultant to corporations and law firms. As someone once put it, my role can best be described as a historical detective that retraces the historical narrative of a place, person, or business. I work collaboratively with my coworkers to produce deliverables that assist our clients in legal proceedings, understanding their past and present liabilities, and/or developing their corporate histories. While I do spend some time collaborating with coworkers and conversing with clients, most days are spent conducting research at either the National Archives, the Library of Congress or a number of online databases. I then process and analyze these documents into deliverables that range from research reports to annotated bibliographies to chronologies. The projects are very diverse so I'm often exposed to new source bases and topics, a challenge that I thoroughly enjoy!