Jessica Lillquist

Jessica Lillquist is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Economics, Utrecht University School of Economics. She holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and has previously worked at the Stone Living Lab and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Her research focuses on socio-economic and political processes shaping climate change adaptation strategies, particularly nature-based solutions for water management and coastal resilience.

• Education: B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy (Smith College, 2015), M.A. in Environment, Politics and Globalisation (King's College London, 2016)
• Current Role: Postdoctoral Researcher in the Utrecht University School of Economics since 2024, contributing to the Water4All ClimEx-PE project on groundwater-based Managed Aquifer Recharge (NB-MAR) in Hungary, Ireland, and Spain.
• Past Roles: PhD Researcher (University of Massachusetts, Boston, 2019-2024; Stone Living Lab, 2020-2023), Program Coordinator (National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 2017-2019).

Research Expertise: Jessica specializes in Climate Adaptation and Nature-Based Solutions, with a focus on stakeholder engagement, human values, and transformative governance in water management and coastal flood protection. Her work integrates Qualitative Research methods to map stakeholder perceptions and inform policy frameworks under climate risks like sea-level rise and extreme weather events.

• Key projects: Water4All ClimEx-PE (communication formats for stakeholder participation), Boston coastal flood protection research (2019-2024).
• Methodological focus: Interviews, focus groups, and qualitative analysis to explore socio-economic drivers of climate adaptation.