I am a Norwegian researcher, writer and activist, and an associate professor in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the University of Oslo’s TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture. I am also affiliated with CICERO Centre for International Climate Research as a senior researcher.
I grew up next to this power station.
(Not me in the picture.)
My research and writing focuses on questions of democracy and justice in relation to climate change and fossil fuel extraction. In particular, I am interested in the relationship between scientific expertise, democratic politics and economic processes.
My disciplinary background is in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and sociology, as well as intellectual history and international relations. My PhD project in STS dealt with how global climate knowledge shapes national and international policymaking. I have also written about the North/South dimensions of climate justice, fossil fuels in climate policy, and the history of oil and climate politics in Norway.
Teaching
I teach several courses in STS and environmental politics at the TIK Centre, including the master specialization in STS, TIK4011. I supervise master students focusing on topics related to my research interests or STS inspired approaches to politics and democratic participation more generally.
Non-academic work
Prior to to my academic work, I have worked with a number of NGOs and activist networks on climate justice and environmental issues, both in Norway and internationally. Until 2023, I headed the board of the Minor Foundation for Major Challenges, a grantmaking foundation focused on climate change activism and communication. From 2008 to 2015, I worked with Rainforest Foundation Norway and Friends of the Earth Norway on international climate policy, and in 2006-2007, I headed the Norwegian youth group Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway).
In addition to research and activism, I have always been interested in literature, theatre, and the potential of artistic expressions more broadly in shaping the conditions for social change and political action. I am currently particularly interested in the role of oil in Norwegian culture, and how new understandings of the Anthropocene may resonate with longer (counter)cultural currents in Norwegian history.