I research and teach about how policymakers in China respond to societal problems.

In particular, my research focuses on how public policy is made and implemented in China, especially how different people and groups influence decisions, how policymakers respond to crisis events, what causes policies to change, and what the policies actually say and do—for example, whether they are feasible, strict, and predictable.

I examine these policymaking processes in two interrelated areas: health and the environment. In health, I analyze how governments in China respond to disease outbreaks and antibiotic resistance. In the environmental field, I analyze how different stakeholders respond to pollution and advance urban sustainability.

I am based at Duke Kunshan University (DKU), a Chinese-American liberal arts college located near Shanghai. As an assistant professor of environmental policy (equivalent to lecturer in the UK or universitair docent in the Netherlands), I have experience teaching courses on policy analysis, policy processes, crisis management, plastic pollution, and global challenges such as climate change, AI, and pandemic prevention.

At DKU, I also serve as co-director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, which supports excellence in research on contemporary China by providing grants, organizing academic events, and training students by creating opportunities for skill and expertise development.

I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Languages and Cultures of China (2007) from Leiden University in the Netherlands; a Master of Science in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (2010) from the University of Manchester, Lund University, and Central European University (joint degree called MESPOM); and Ph.D. in Law (2019) from the University of Amsterdam, where I was based at the Netherlands China Law Centre.

During my PhD, I was a visiting researcher at the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) in Beijing and at Harvard Law School. Prior to coming to DKU, I taught comparative public administration, public policy, and crisis management at Mid-Sweden University.

Before academia, I was a high school teacher in Sweden and a fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (an American environmental non-profit organization) in Beijing.

Outside of work, I enjoy (trail)running, biking, hiking, walking, and kayaking.