Sonja M. Geiger
Senior Lecturer, Justus-Liebig-University
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Psychology at the Consumer research department, Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen. Sonja holds a PhD in Psychology and completed her Habilitation in Germany on innovative ways to foster sustainable consumption, focusing on intervention techniques such as mindfulness practice and strengthening time-wealth in people. Within these behavioral intervention approaches, her research tackles the interplay between normative, cognitive and emotional aspects influencing sustainable consumption behaviors. Recent teaching and research activities have included the focus on how those behaviors are linked to health and wellbeing in people applying a planetary health perspective on the field of nutrition. Here, she explores ways to support the implementation of a planetary health diet on different societal levels. Generally speaking, looking at personal nutrition behavior and their dependence and effects on structural conditions is an example on how psychological insights can be harnessed to propel a socio-economic transformation on all societal levels. Before returning to the scientific exploration of sustainability issues, Sonja has worked for a couple of years in an international environmental association in Latin America, getting in touch with alternative concepts of what it means to lead a good life within planetary boundaries. This experience has inspired her research ever since on how modern environmental psychology can contribute to a societal transformation where people care better for themselves, each other and the natural environment.