About me
I am a historian of environment and technology living in Trondheim, Norway. I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, where I am building up an environmental history research group. I earned my PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (specializing in the History of Business, Technology, and the Environment) at NTNU in 2007. I blog for forskning.no and miljøhistorie.net.
The hytte dream
I am currently writing a book on the history of the Norwegian leisure cabin – the hytte – as part of my postdoctoral research project “Suburbanizing the Wilderness: The Norwegian Hytte 1850-2000″, funded by the Research Council of Norway program “Miljø 2015.”
Beverage container recycling
My PhD research was on the development of sociotechnical systems for the handling of empty beverage containers in Norway, Sweden, and the US. The history of the Norwegian company Tomra Systems ASA and their reverse vending machine for the return of empty bottles and cans in grocery stores is the primary empirical material for the dissertation. A revised version of the dissertation is under contract for publication by Rutgers University Press in 2010. My goal with this book is to trace the development of beverage container recycling systems and the technological infrastructures developed by business to facilitate and support these systems. The book examines the parallel technical development of reverse vending machines (used for consumer returns of empty bottles and cans) and the cultural context of beverage container recycling. I analyze how empty beverage containers have been handled by industry, policy makers, environmentalists, and consumers from the 1960s through the 1990s in Scandinavia (primarily Norway and Sweden) and the US.
The scientific kitchen
My Masters thesis (2001) examined the Norwegian debate about scientific kitchens and the professionalization of housewives, 1900-1940.
The Consumer Society
The contradictory and many-faceted nature of the modern consumer is a recurring theme in much of my research. I have published articles on consumption and have on several occasions commented on the topic in Norwegian newspapers, radio, and TV.
Environmental history in Norway
I am the founder and editor of the website “Miljøhistorie i Norge” – a portal highlighting environmental history research in Norway.
