Kari Dahlgren

Kari Dahlgren is a Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University. She is a social anthropologist and ethnographer interested in the social and ethical aspects of energy production and consumption in Australia. Her work is situated at the intersection of economic and environmental anthropology, with a particular interest in the anthropology of energy, climate change, and transition. Her doctoral thesis draws on fieldwork in two Australian coal mining towns, focusing on the livelihoods entangled with the industry. In the context of increasing questions about the future of the coal industry, Kari’s research speaks to the possibilities and limitations coal communities face in imagining and crafting their futures, and the moral and ethical implications of change. She is currently working with colleagues at Monash on a landmark project, called Digital Energy Futures which draws on future-focused social science research, to better understand how emerging technologies are shaping the way people live – and ultimately, the future energy needs of Australian households.