Welcome to my website! I am an environmental and social psychologist and currently work as a senior researcher at the Sustainability Research group at the University of Basel (since 2016) and in the Sustainable Mobility research team at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (since 2021). I am passionate about sustainability and making a difference, and as such I am also now an EU Climate Pact Ambassador.

I received my doctorate in 2015 from the University of Bournemouth, UK, on the topic “Understanding the influence of individual behaviour and social networks in sustainability transitions”. I work inter– and transdisciplinarily to understand and actively shape the sustainability transformation. I examine the interaction of micro (e.g. individuals, households), meso (e.g. social networks) and macro (e.g. location, country) levels in decision making and behaviour change in sustainable consumer behaviour. I apply theories and empirical findings from different disciplines such as psychology, sociology and consumer science and uses qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as surveys, experiments, focus groups and living lab research. 

In addition, I am an experienced lecturer, teaching numerous courses on the Masters for Sustainable Development at the University of Basel, as well as at the ZHAW.

Current research interests

• Bottom-up/top-down governance in energy transitions
• Determinants of (sustainable) energy consumption of individuals and groups/collectives (e.g. social networks) across different domains (mobility, electricity, heating, food)
• Decision-making and behaviour change in energy transitions
• Positive Energy Districts & Energy justice, Wellbeing & Quality of life

My current projects include: ENPOWER, a Horizon Europe project examining energy communites in multiple European countries.

SWEET CoSi (Co-Evolution and Coordinated Simulation of the Swiss Energy System and Swiss Society), which focuses on the interactions between society and the energy system. 

SWEET ReFUEL Sustainable Fuels and Platform Chemicals, examining consumer acceptance of renewable and alternative fuels.