Jill Jonnes is the author of several books that explore the impact of new technologies, structures, and landscapes on modern cities and society, including Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World and Conquering Gotham: Building Penn Station and Its Tunnels. In 2016 she published Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape. Jonnes holds an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School and a Ph.D. in American History from Johns Hopkins University.