I am an environmental social scientist working within the field of environmental planning and governance. During the last decade, my research has centred on understanding how certain ideas and ‘ways of seeing and doing’ gain traction in environmental policy and planning and the linkages with particular modes of knowledge and power relations. I explore how framings of certain actors and groups in society shape perceptions of legitimacy and how these influence the nature of norms of access to resources. Recently, my attention has turned towards understanding perceptions and responses to climate change-related uncertainties within a context of globalisation and rapid urbanisation, and issues related to urban sustainability.  

Before coming to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2017, I worked at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) for three years on various projects associated with water, energy and climate change governance. Before NIVA, I had a post doc. position in Global Environmental Governance at the Institute for International Environment and Development Studies at NMBU. I have a PhD from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, where I worked on the politics of water allocation in South Africa.