Biography

• Phd Student, Sussex Energy Group, SPRU (2010-)
• Research Fellow, Sussex Energy Group, SPRU (2008-2010)
• Research Officer, Sussex Energy Group, SPRU (2006-2008)
• Communications and Small Wind Officer, RenewableUK (formerly the British Wind Energy Association) (2004-2006)
• MSc in Environmental Technology, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London (2002-2003)
• Editor, www.bunkerworld.com (2000-2002)
• BA Social Sciences (Communication Studies, Sociology, Philosophy) University of Helsinki, Finland (1997-2000).

Role

Mari joined the Sussex Energy Group in SPRU in July 2006. Her research centres around consumer behaviour and energy demand, with links to concepts such as community energy and stakeholder engagement via local initiatives. She is also interested in the debates surrounding new and old energy technologies such as nuclear power and microgeneration.

In October 2010, Mari started a PhD in Innovation of Community Energy Projects in Finland and the United Kingdom. Mari is supervised by Professor Gordon MacKerron and Dr. Adrian Smith.

Mari is an affiliate PhD Researcher of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. You can also follow Mari on Twitter @martiskainen.

Qualifications

• M.Sc. in Environmental Technology, Imperial College London (2003)
• B.A. Social Sciences, 2000, University of Helsinki, Finland (2000)

Energy, behaviour and society

Mari's main research focuses around the role of consumers in the energy system, especially linked to household energy consumption. She is interested in how technological innovations such as smart meters, display units and microgeneration may affect people's behaviour in the home and the wider community. The behaviour of consumers has become ever more intriguing to policy makers and energy utilities. Households in the UK are responsible for a large chunk of carbon emissions, influenced by the quality of housing stock as well as increasingly energy consuming lifestyles. The following projects analyse some of these issues in more detail:

• Community Innovation for Sustainable Energy. This is a three-year long project jointly funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the European Center Laboratories for Energy Efficiency Research (ECLEER). The wider project researches the diffusion of community-led innovative energy projects in the UK, while Mari's is undertaking a PhD study concentrating on the Innovation of Community Energy Projects in Finland and the United Kingdom.
• Consumer Behaviour on Energy Demand. This project identified possible measures on how to influence energy behaviours in the home.

Emergence of different energy technologies

Mari's other research analyses the paths and decision making processes linked to different energy technologies, such as microgeneration and new nuclear power. Energy policy decisions are often debated on their economic grounds, but they also have far-reaching political, environmental and social implications. The following projects fall under this theme.

• Governance of "Nuclear Revival". This project analyses the evolution of the debates, institutions and decisions concerning new nuclear power and nuclear waste management in Finland, France and the UK. As part of this project, Mari completed a research visit in 2009 to Helsinki Institute of Science and Technology Studies (HIST), the focal point of STS studies in Finland.

• Mari has worked together with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) analysing the different technical innovation systems for microgeneration in Germany and the UK.

Praetorius, Barbara, Martiskainen, Mari, Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2012) Microgeneration in the UK and Germany from a Technological Innovation Systems Perspective. In: Sustainability Innovations in the Electricity Sector. Physica Verlag, A Springer Company, pp. 117-140. ISBN 978-3-7908-2729-3

Teräväinen, Tuula, Lehtonen, Markku and Martiskainen, Mari (2011) Climate change, energy security and risk - debating new nuclear build in Finland, France and the UK. Energy Policy, 39 (6). pp. 3434-3442. ISSN 0301-4215

Martiskainen, Mari and Coburn, Josie (2011) The role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in household energy consumption - prospects for the UK. Energy Efficiency, 4 (2). pp. 209-221.

Martiskainen, Mari (2010) How can the stigma of public transport as the 'poor man's vehicle' be overcome to enhance sustainability and climate change mitigation? Unset.

Praetorius, Barbara, Martiskainen, Mari, Sauter, Raphael and Watson, Jim (2010) Technological innovation systems for microgeneration in the UK and Germany - a functional analysis. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 22 (6). pp. 745-764. ISSN 0953-7325

Teravainen, Tuula, Lehtonen, Markku and Martiskainen, Mari (2010) Climate, Energy Security and Nuclear Risks: Finland, France, and the UK. In: XVII ISA World Congress of Sociology.

Martiskainen, Mari and Lehtonen, Markku (2010) Governance of the "nuclear revival" in Finland, France and the UK - framings, actor strategies and policies. In: Energy transitions in an interdependent world: what and where are the future social science research agendas? Sussex Energy Group Conference., Brighton.

Martiskainen, Mari and Ellis, Josie (2009) The role of smart meters in encouraging behavioural change - prospects for the UK. Unset.

Martiskainen, Mari and Watson, Jim (2009) Energy and the Citizen. In: Energy for the Future. A New Agenda. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 165. ISBN 978-0-230-00800-7

Martiskainen, Mari (2008) Household energy consumption and behavioural change - the UK perspective. In: Sustainable Consumption and Production: Framework for action, Conference of the Sustainable Consumption Research Exchange (SCORE!) Network, supported by the EU's 6th Framework Programme, 10th March, 2008., Brussels, Belgium..

Martiskainen, Mari (2007) Affecting consumer behaviour on energy demand. Project Report. EdF Energy.