I am a writer, scholar, and educator, currently appointed as Associated Professor of American Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Freiburg where I direct the Visions of Sustainability project at the Sustainability Innovation Campus.

As the author of three academic books, Growing Hope (2025), Affective Ecologies (2017), and Cosmopolitan Minds (2014), and the (co-)editor of several books and journal issues, my trans- and interdisciplinary research explores contemporary environmental culture with input from the social sciences and a focus on affect and emotion. I have a special interest in climate change communication and narrativization, eco-documentaries, and food narratives. In recent years, I have also returned to creative writing with some short stories and my first novel, Fragile (2023).

Currently, I am directing the Visions of Sustainability project at the University of Freiburg, and I have been given the opportunity to work as a risk communication expert for the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) of the European Commission, facilitating Masterclasses for European policy makers and contributing to the preparEU flagship initiative to address challenges in disaster risk communication.

UPCOMING TALKS 

June 3, 2025

Moving Viewers: Inspiring Environmental Action Through Impact Producing

Evening talk as part of the Cologne Media Conversation (CMC) at the University of Cologne

Cologne, Germany

June 4, 2025

Studying Eco-Documentaries: From Emotional Engagement to Social Impact

Masterclass as part of the Cologne Media Conversation (CMC) at the University of Cologne

Cologne, Germany

June 5, 2025

“Visionen der Nachhaltigkeit: Wie wirken Klimafilme?”

Public lecture with Thomas Heintz at the Public Climate School organized by Students For Future Freiburg

Freiburg, Germany

June 24, 2025

Narrating European Climate Risk: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Community Engagement

Keynote lecture at the Conference “Engaging Communities in Environmental and Climate In/Action: Narratives, Discursive Practices, and Transdisciplinary Approaches,” organized by the Interuniversity Research Centre Dis4Change: Studies on Climate Change and Environmental Discourse, University of Bari Aldo Moro

Bari, Italy

July 11-12, 2025

“(Re)creating Multispecies Connections: Narrative and Disaster Preparedness

Keynote lecture at the MESH Symposium 2025 “Disaster Preparedness in Multispecies Worlds” at the University of Cologne

Cologne, Germany

September 30 – October 1, 2025

“Engaging the Public: Developing an Effective Narrative in Disaster Risk Communication”

Keynote and discussion facilitation for Masterclass “Science Advocacy: Developing a Behavioural and Risk Communication Approach that fits Democratic Societies” at the Evidence for Policy in Disaster Risk Management Summer School 2025, organized by the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) of the European Commission

Barcelona, Spain