My research investigates how individuals respond to and cope with global environmental crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss. With a background in psychology, I have focused mainly on the roles of psychological needs and emotions for climate denial and climate protection.

More specifically, in my doctoral thesis I investigated psychological functions of climate denial, such as emotion regulation and protection of privilege, and investigated relations of defensiveness with pro-environmental behavior and climate anxiety. I have also worked on projects relating to sufficiency - a similar concept to voluntary simplicity that aims at adjusting consumption levels to meet one’s psychological and material needs, while preserving a livable planet for future generations.

Currently, I am working in an interdisciplinary project on nature-based solutions at the climate-biodiversity-health nexus, in collaboration with the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine. Within this project, I focus mainly on the intersections of nature-based solutions that benefit both the climate and biodiversity, while contributing to psychological well-being.

I am also interested in research on socio-ecological transformations and relations to psychology.

I am also happy to supervise theses connecting to the psychology of global environmental change (i.e., climate change and biodiversity loss), especially projects about emotions (e.g., climate anxiety, eco-anxiety, climate worry, ecological grief, hope), emotion regulation, and coping with global environmental change (e.g., in the form of denial/distancing/avoidance and/or pro-environmental behavior/collective action/activism/sufficiency). I am also interested in how local nature contact, nature connectedness, and nature-based solutions relate to responses to global environmental change and can therefore offer supervision of theses at this intersection. A psychologist by training, I mainly use psychological methods but have experience working in interdisciplinary contexts as well and am happy to supervise students from other disciplines. Contact me via email if you are interested: [email protected]