Flora Roberts

Dr. Flora Roberts is an Assistant Professor in Cultural History at the Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University. Specializing in Environmental History and the Cultural History of Iran and the Persianate World, her work examines the intersection of nature and culture in Soviet Central Asia, particularly through water management and dam construction.

• Research Institutes: Member of the Humanities Research Institute for History and Art History
• Projects: Pathways to Sustainability (Water, Climate and Future Deltas), RedGold Legend Project, Biophilia Project (2024 USO-funded)

Her research integrates archival documents in Russian, Persian/Tajik, and Uzbek with oral histories from Tajikistan and the Russian Federation. She explores how Soviet-era environmental transformations shaped social inequality and how post-Soviet societies negotiate ecological legacies.

Recent works analyze transboundary rivers in Eurasia, environmental satire in USSR, and neopatrimonial governance in Central Asia. Roberts co-organizes the Network for Environmental Humanities at Utrecht and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Central Asian History.