Dr Sylvia Nissen

Lincoln University NZ

Sylvia is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Management at Lincoln University (NZ) and an Adjunct Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury (NZ) working in our CYCLES project, examining the lifestyles of young people in cities across the world.

Trained in political science, sociology and geography, Sylvia’s research interests centre around young people, democracy and environmental change. She was the recipient of the 2013 Kate Sheppard Memorial Prize and a Canterbury Scholarship for her doctoral research, which reconsidered the political action of contemporary university students in New Zealand. In 2015, this research was awarded two top national essay prizes in New Zealand, both in political science and sociology. It has also recently been published in international journals and an edited volume, and she is currently revising her doctoral research for publication as a book.

Prior to her PhD, Sylvia obtained a MEnvSc in human geography from Monash University, examining the contested politics of freshwater governance. She has also previously worked as a Research Assistant for the Sustainable Lives Research Group (University of Surrey) in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme, as part of the development of the CYCLES project.