Dr John Lidwell-Durnin (he/him)

I am Lecturer in the History Faculty of Exeter University specialising in the long eighteenth century. I focus on environmental history, history of science, and agriculture in Britain and its empire. My research delves into how quantification and the rise of bureaucratic expertise hasshaped societies' responses to challenges like food security and ecological change. With a diverse array of publications spanning leading historical journals (The Historical Journal, British Journal for the History of Science) and scientific outlets (Global Food Security), my work bridges disciplinary divides. My monograph, Explaining Famine in the British Empire: Agricultural Science, Food Security, and the Rise of Statistics (OUP, 2026) funded by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship, examines the evolution of state-led efforts to use agricultural science in addressing famine and food supply challenges during the modern era. 

My current research is focused on the history of mining in eighteenth-century Cornwall and explores the efforts by the East India Company to bring Cornwall into competition with the Palembang Sultanate in the Pacific tin trade. I am particularly interested in how monopolistic trade hastened the extraction of tin in Cornwall and how Chinese market demands increased mineral scarcity in the peninsula, providing new contexts for the development of steam power and reorganisations of labour.

Before joining the University of Exeter in 2021, I taught at the University of Oxford, where I was a Departmental Lecturer and an Adjunct Fellow at Linacre College. I hold a D.Phil in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology and a B.Phil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford. 

In addition to my research, I am committed to public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration. I have contributed to media platforms like BBC 4 and Dan Snow’s History Hit podcast. I am also interested in the gamification of the history of science and opportunities to develop new digital media for experiencing the past. At Exeter, I teach modules on imperial science, famines, and the population problem.