Aust is a 2001 graduate of Iowa State University and has been with Substance since 2005. She has contributed to projects recognized with awards for design excellence from AIA Iowa and the Central States Region, as well as by the National AIA’s Committee on Design/Committee on the Environment House for an Ecologist Design Ideas Competition. In 2011, her work on the renovation of the Cedar Rapids Courthouse won a prestigious American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum as well as a GSA Design Award. She has served on AIA Iowa’s Convention Committee and is an active member of Iowa Women in Architecture (iaWia).