Hello out there and thanks for visiting my website!
I am a researcher interested in how environmental advocates can harness communication science to help humanity achieve more sustainable, just, and safe societal trajectories. I became interested in this area of research while an MSc student in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford University. I then stuck around Oxford to do my PhD in the School of Geography and the Environment, which I completed in November 2023.
Having previously worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), I am also interested in how diverse members of the public engage with a broader range of topics related to science and technology. Additionally, I have always been passionate about film, television, and storytelling in general. During my undergraduate degree, I was lucky enough to work as an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (and we thought politics was already crazy back then, more than 10 years ago!). I still draw on my passion for this topic: for the last several years, I have run over 35 storytelling workshops across 8 countries, including for an online course developed by the journal Nature. These workshops combine insights from Hollywood writing strategies, as well as communication science and psychology.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) at George Mason University, where I am helping run an international climate and health research study (funded by the Wellcome Trust), among other projects. I am also a visiting researcher with KU Leuven and the Brussels School of Governance.
Below you can find more details about my educational and professional background. I am open for media inquiries and speaking invitations (you can contact me here).
Education
Work Experience
Skills and interests
I am a researcher interested in how environmental advocates can harness communication science to help humanity achieve more sustainable, just, and safe societal trajectories. I became interested in this area of research while an MSc student in Environmental Change and Management at Oxford University. I then stuck around Oxford to do my PhD in the School of Geography and the Environment, which I completed in November 2023.
Having previously worked for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), I am also interested in how diverse members of the public engage with a broader range of topics related to science and technology. Additionally, I have always been passionate about film, television, and storytelling in general. During my undergraduate degree, I was lucky enough to work as an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (and we thought politics was already crazy back then, more than 10 years ago!). I still draw on my passion for this topic: for the last several years, I have run over 35 storytelling workshops across 8 countries, including for an online course developed by the journal Nature. These workshops combine insights from Hollywood writing strategies, as well as communication science and psychology.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) at George Mason University, where I am helping run an international climate and health research study (funded by the Wellcome Trust), among other projects. I am also a visiting researcher with KU Leuven and the Brussels School of Governance.
Below you can find more details about my educational and professional background. I am open for media inquiries and speaking invitations (you can contact me here).
Education
- University of Oxford, PhD (DPhil) student, School of Geography and the Environment & Environmental Change Institute
- Thesis title: Seizing the teachable moment: Extreme weather events as catalysts for climate change dialogue, learning and action
- Supervisors: Dr. James Painter; Dr. Peter Walton; Dr. Friederike Otto
- Teaching Assistant, MSc Environmental Change and Management course
- Teaching Assistant, Dr. Kate Raworth's and Dr. Lisa Schipper's 'Human Dimensions of Environmental Change' MSc module
- Fellow, Cumberland Lodge
- University of Oxford, MSc, Environmental Change and Management, Graduate with Distinction
- Dissertation: Climate of Hope or Doom and Gloom: Examining the Impact of Different Environmental Narratives Across the Six Americas of Global Warming
- Dissertation research published in Climatic Change, featured in Grist, summarized in a blog for Climate Outreach
- Dissertation: Climate of Hope or Doom and Gloom: Examining the Impact of Different Environmental Narratives Across the Six Americas of Global Warming
- Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
- Climate change and economic development summer program
- Hofstra University Honors College - Bachelor of Arts, Global Studies, Geography and Philosophy, Honors Graduate with Highest Distinction
Work Experience
- Center for Climate Change Communication (4C), George Mason University (September 2023 - present)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), several positions held between Jan 2014 - June 2017
- Senior Communications Associate, Executive Office
- Operations Coordinator, Executive Office and assistant to Dr. Rush Holt, CEO and Executive Publisher of Science
- Program Assistant - Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program (SRHRL), Deputy Editor - AAAS Professional Ethics Report
- Started as an intern
- Stockholm Environmental Institute, Oxford (2019)
- Adaptation communications and knowledge exchange Intern
- Global Canopy (2018)
- Inaugural Claudia Comberti Communications Intern
- Human Rights First (2014)
- Research intern
- U.S. Congressman Steve Israel (2013-2014)
- Intern with district and Washington DC offices
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (2012)
- Production Intern
Skills and interests
- Research skills: Statistical analysis (SPSS) and qualitative methods (e.g., semi-structured interviews, content analysis, focus groups)
- Creative writing: Georgetown University screenwriting program, creative writing summer program in Galway, Ireland
- Music: guitar (15 years training), piano, percussion and electronic music composition (Logic Pro, Pro Tools)
- Drawing/painting: courses at the Washington D.C. Studio School and Corcoran School of Art
- Improv comedy courses -- DC Improv
- Video production: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere