John Flynn is an environmental and public historian based in Salt Lake City. Regionally, he focuses on the American West and the intersections of Indigenous history, public lands, the Atomic West, the Cold War, and outdoor recreation in the 20th century. He holds an MA in history from Brown University and a BA in history from the University of Texas at Austin. Currently he is finishing his PhD in American history at the University of Utah.
As a public historian John has collaborated with Native American Tribes, the National Park Service, the Department of Energy, the US Forest Service, and nonprofits. He has produced book-length research reports, treaty reports, ethnohistories, oral history collections, NRHP and NHL documentation, and geospatial humanities projects. In his academic and public history work he has conducted nearly 150 oral histories with tribal elders, Downwinders, politicians, scientists, federal land managers, and peace activists.
His public history work in Little Cottonwood Canyon was featured in The Salt Lake Tribune and won him a national award in Policy and Conservation from the Access Fund.
In the past decade, John has worked as a journalist in print and radio, a science writer, a climbing guide, and a forester.
