Joseph Giacomelli's work focuses on how environmental and scientific knowledge is created, contested, and sometimes transformed into actions that shape people's lives. He is especially interested in climate history, environmental history, and the history of science. His book, Uncertain Climes: Debating Climate Change in Gilded Age America (University of Chicago Press, 2023), focuses on the political and cultural dimensions of late nineteenth-century climate change theories. In the book, he argues that contentious debates about human-induced climatic changes shaped not just environmental and scientific thought, but also broader political struggles over the future of American expansionism and capitalism.

Giacomelli enjoys learning about maps and the history of technology. At DKU, he has taught courses on U.S. history, environmental history, "Global Challenges," and other topics. He has a B.A. in history and geography from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in history from Cornell University.