Welcome to our new Research Associate, Dr. Ali Straub
We are pleased to introduce the newest addition to the WHC team, Research Associate Ali Straub. Ali graduated from Temple University in the spring of 2020 with her Ph.D. in history. She is an environmental historian interested in the intersection of non-human nature, technology, and culture. Her dissertation explored the history of chemical and mechanical water softening and water conditioning. Her focus lies not only in the tools and processes created to manipulate water but also people’s attitudes towards and definitions of water.
Prior to joining the World History Center, Ali was the Cain Dissertation Fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. Her scholarship has also been supported by the Hagley Museum and Library and the Center for the Humanities at Temple. Her work has been featured in Distillations Magazine and Pennsylvania History: a Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies.
In her free time, Ali enjoys running and biking, and she is section hiking the Appalachian Trail. Welcome to the World History Center, Ali!