My research is concerned with the interactions of people, 'technology', and the environment and combines insights from science and technology studies, sociology, geography, and information studies. Most of my recent research has focused on the implications of digitisation (AI, ML, big data, algorithmic decision making, etc) on environmental governance processes.
At SLU, I teach and contribute to courses in the MSc Environmental Communication and Management degree programme. I am currently responsible for the courses Communication theory and strategy and Internship in environmental communication.
I am currently involved in two major research endeavours:
The project Creating meaning on the climate crisis: An investigation of commercial algorithms as communication participants investigates the role of algorithms in societal meaning making on the climate crisis.
The focus area Information cultures, data and technology in environmental communication of the MISTRA Environmental Communication project investigates the role of data in environmental communication. Here I lead the Observatory, where we conduct rapid response research related to ongoing or urgent topics at the intersection of digitisation and environmental communication.
My collective work on algorithms is summarised here: slu.se/algorithms
since 2020: Researcher – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
2019 – 2020: Postdoctoral Research Associate – Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI), The University of Manchester, UK
2015 – 2019: PhD Business and Management (Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies) at the Sustainable Consumption Institute, The University of Manchester
I regularly supervise theses for the MSc Environmental Communication and Management programme at SLU (you can find them here), and have also supervised a few individuals from other MSc programmes in Sweden.
For a complete and recent list of my publications, please look at my profile on ResearchGate.
Rödl, M. B., & Haider, J. (2025). “Google this!” How performative links and search engines organise climate obstruction networks. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2445640
Haider, J., Söderström, K. R., Ekström, B., & Rödl, M. (2024). GPT-fabricated scientific papers on Google Scholar: Key features, spread, and implications for preempting evidence manipulation. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-156
Haider, J., & Rödl, M. (2023). Google Search and the creation of ignorance: The case of the climate crisis. Big Data & Society, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517231158997
Rödl, M., Haider, J., & Joosse, S. (2023). The quest for “nature” in selfies: How platforms shape nature/society relationships. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(9), 1928–1951. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2023.2265548
Oncini, F., Rödl, M. B., Triventi, M., & Warde, A. (2023). Cultural Intolerance, in Practice: Social Variation in Food and Drink Avoidances in Italy, 2003–2016. Social Indicators Research, 170, 1075–1096. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03232-4
Åhlvik, T., Bergeå, H., Rödl, M. B., & Hallgren, L. (2023). When hope messages become the discursive norm: How repertoires of hope shape communicative capacity in conversations on the circular economy. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(9), 2017–2034. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2023.2270144
Rödl, M. B., Åhlvik, T., Bergeå, H., Hallgren, L., & Böhm, S. (2022). Performing the Circular economy: How an ambiguous discourse is managed and maintained through meetings. Journal of Cleaner Production, 360, 132144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132144
Haider, J., Rödl, M., & Joosse, S. (2022). Algorithmically embodied emissions: The environmental harm of everyday life information in digital culture. Information Research, 27(Special issue with conference proceedings from CoLIS11), paper colis2224. https://doi.org/10.47989/colis2224
Rödl, M. B., Boons, F., & Spekkink, W. (2022). From responsible to responsive innovation: A systemic and historically sensitive approach to innovation processes. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 121231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121231
Spekkink, W., Rödl, M., & Charter, M. (2022). Repair Cafés and Precious Plastic as translocal networks for the circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 380, 135125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135125