Sophie-Marie Ertelt
Research Fellow in Sustainability Transitions at the University of Tartu & Assistant Professor at the Örebro University School of Business
She holds a PhD in Industrial Management from Örebro University and Uppsala University, and her dissertation investigated net-zero transition acceleration challenges in hard-to-abate industries with the help of multi-method and mixed-method approaches.
Her research interests cover topics ranging from critical perspectives on low-carbon innovation, actor resistance to climate change policies, the socio-technical dynamics of circular economy transitions and the advancement of mixed-method as well as quantitative approaches to better understand socio-technical change. To strengthen the policy impact of her research, she joined SEK Svensk Elstandard (the Swedish Association for Electrotechnical Standardisation) as a member of SK 4 Sustainable Electrified Transport in 2025, contributing to the development of national and European standards for sustainable transport electrification.
Additionally, she currently serves as the communications manager of the Sustainability Transition Research Network (STRN) and has a long-standing track record of volunteering for the Network of Early Career Researchers in Sustainability Transitions (NEST). Before her academic career, Sophie-Marie was a professional athlete who represented Germany in the single-handed Olympic-class women’s boat in 35+ countries.
As part of the Deep Transition Research Team, she currently contributes to several research streams, including the application of LLMs to measure the evolution of industrial modernity, investigating how and when industrial modernity has been contested over the last 200 years, as well as building a database of niche interventions with the potential to reshape industrial modernity.