Julia Ault

Julia Ault is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of History at the University of Utah's College of Humanities. She specializes in modern European history with emphases on postwar communism, environmental history, and transnational networks, particularly focusing on East Germany. Her research examines how environmental policies intersected with socialist governance and cross-border activism during the Cold War.

Education:

• Ph.D. and M.A. from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• B.A. from Grinnell College

Research Focus: Her work investigates the environmental dimensions of socialism, including transnational activism between East/West Germany and Poland, the role of science in East German global engagements, and ecological constraints under authoritarian regimes. Current projects analyze East German experts' impact in socialist and non-aligned nations through scientific diplomacy.

Publications: Ault's scholarship consistently explores environmentalism under socialism, with recent articles analyzing border security through river management (2023), critiques of environmental governance in dictatorships (2022), and transnational activism. Her award-winning 2021 monograph Saving Nature under Socialism established her as a leading voice in Cold War environmental history.

Awards & Fellowships:

• Faculty Teaching Award for Excellence (2022)
• Tanner Humanities Center Fellowship (2021)
• ACLS Incentive Fellowship (2020)
• Fulbright Fellowship (2008-2009)
• Multiple University of Utah research/travel grants (2015-2022)

She teaches courses on Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, Cold War Europe, and historical methodology, reflecting her expertise in 20th-century German and transnational history.