معرفی
Maria Ojala is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Örebro University (20% position until December 2026) and will transition to a Professor role (80%) at the University of Oulu, Finland, in August 2024. Her research focuses on young people’s emotional responses to climate change (2004–2025), examining climate anxiety, hope, coping strategies, and pro-environmental behavior across developmental stages.
- Current affiliations: Örebro University, University of Oulu (FRONT program)
- Key research areas: Environmental Psychology, Climate Change Education, Sustainable Development, Youth Mental Health
Her work bridges emotional awareness and transformative learning, analyzing how climate-related emotions influence engagement, communication patterns, and educational practices. Recent projects include longitudinal studies on climate distress in Finnish adolescents (Swedish Research Council VR, 2022–2026) and youth trust in climate science (Swedish Research Council Forte, 2022–2025). Earlier, she explored food activism (Formas, 2018–2022) and mobile preschools (RJ, 2018–2022).
Publications span empirical and theoretical analyses, with 15 recent articles (2021–2025) addressing climate anxiety, coping strategies, media exposure, and teacher practices. She collaborates with research groups like POCSUS and leads initiatives in the LEADER Center. Grants include SEK 5.95M (VR), SEK 3.94M (Forte), and SEK 3M (Formas). Her work emphasizes critical emotional awareness as a key competence for sustainable futures, integrating moral reasoning and anticipatory emotions into education.
