Introduction
I have an interdisciplinary background with an MSc degree in Statistics from Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo and an MSc degree in Development Economics from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). With academic interests in the Environmental Humanities, Development Studies, and Religious Studies, I actively seek interdisciplinary answers to pressing contemporary challenges, including environmental degradation, public health concerns, and sustainable development in Asia.
My regional research focus is the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The Mekong Delta is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the country, inhabited not only by Vietnamese but also by Khmer, Cham, and ethnic Chinese minorities. These communities recently face severe environmental challenges: water scarcity, salinification, acidity, waste problem (plastics, agricultural substances, and aquaculture chemicals), and excessive and unregulated flooding induced by climate change.
During the period of 2022-2025, I have studied Buddhist practices that aim to reduce the human impact on the environment in Vietnam. The title of my PhD project is “Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Buddhist Practices and Environmental Change in the Mekong Delta”. Based on ethnographic fieldwork at several sites in the region, the project examines several Buddhist communities and leaders, looking at their responses to climate change and the ways in which they mobilize followers to tackle environmental problems and climate emergencies. The project also studies traditional ecological knowledge in the region, in order to answer the question if this ecological knowledge can contribute to sustainable water management today.
On January 9, 2026, I successfully defended my PhD thesis with the title "Engaged Buddhism and Environmentality among Buddhist Minorities in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam". The public defence was carried out at University of Oslo.
Teaching experience
I am teaching several courses at both bachelor’s and master’s levels in the 2025/2026 academic year. Together with other lecturers and professors at the Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Easter Studies, I am giving lectures on the following topics:
- Environmentalism and politics (EXFAC03-EAST 25). The lecture gives an introduction to the environmental humanities in East Asian contexts. The lesson aims to answer questions such as: How have societies and nation states in China, Japan, and Vietnam responded to environmental change? What are implications of the environmental change on race, ethnicity, and cultures in East Asia?
- Environmentalism and Engaged Buddhism (REL2230).
- Vietnamese political and religious landscapes after Doi Moi economic reforms in 1986 (KOS4050).
- China’s Geopolitics and Infrastructure Development in the Lower Mekong River Basin: Responses from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand (KIN4350)
- Ethnographic research methods (KIN4510). The seminar provides students with key concepts in critical ethnography as well as practical tools and tips in participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The lesson also accompanies students on how to do research and carry out fieldwork in a strict environment.
- Socially Engaged Buddhism (EAST1000). The lecture gives an introduction to Engaged Buddhism and Buddhist practices among socially engaged Buddhist organizations The lesson shows how engaged Buddhist leaders in Vietnam and in Asia have reinterpreted the Buddha’s teachings and Buddhist philosophy in order to mobilize volunteers and followers to tackle environmental problems such as pollution, deforestation, warfare, natural and man-made disasters.