About me
I am an interdisciplinary sustainability researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. I am interested in the social dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem services, knowledge integration and human-nature connections.
In my research I strive to diversify conceptions and assessments of human-nature relations beyond the current anthropocentric paradigm. A key tension explored in my work is that between abstract systems of categorisation, such as those often central to ecosystem services approaches, and people's varied perceptions and experiences in natural environments. I use qualitative methods to understand people’s lived experiences in nature and draw on critical social science and philosophical perspectives to inform and scrutinise approaches for values and valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity.
I am currently leading two research projects: The role of local knowledge in assessments of biodiversity loss and climate change impacts, and Numeric trees and measurable ecosystem services. I am also leading a new PhD course on Critical Plant Studies at SLU.
My field work has focused on local communities and municipalities in Skåne in Sweden, in Cape Town, South Africa, and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have worked in inter-and transdisciplinary research projects on the implementation of ecosystem services approaches on municipal levels and in spatial planning (ECOSIMP and Mistra City-to-City learning lab).
I have a PhD in Sustainability Science from Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), and a MSc in Ecosystem Services from Edinburgh University.
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Alnarp, Sweden