Melisa Stevanovic
Your name, title and university/department
Melisa Stevanovic, associate professor in social psychology, Tampere University
Role in the project / what are you’re main tasks in this project?
Making sure that the wheels keep rolling.
What’s the most interesting part about working on a research project like Talk Green?
Turning chaos into clarity, step by step — with each new observation reshuffling the game.
If you weren’t a researcher, what would you be doing?
Probably happily arranging papers into perfect piles and making sure every margin, label, and line is exactly where it should be.
If you were a tree, which one would you be — and why? 🌳
Aspen — always trembling with excitement, nerves, or caffeine.
Which emoji best describes your research mood?
🦗🐸
melisa.stevanovic@tuni.fi
Teija Ahopelto
Your name, title and university/department
Teija Ahopelto, Doctoral researcher, Tampere University
Role in the project / what are you’re main tasks in this project?
My task is to identify the interaction practices that help democracy thrive and those that hold it back.
What’s the most interesting part about working on a research project like Talk Green?
It’s the detective work: searching for clues, following leads, and the joy of discovery.
If you weren’t a researcher, what would you be doing?
I would probably be working on developing interaction, for example in workplaces or in children’s and youth sports.
If you were a tree, which one would you be — and why? 🌳
Baobab: down-to-earth and rooted in the essentials.
Which emoji best describes your research mood?
🕵️♀️🚀💥🌟
teija.ahopelto@tuni.fi
Simon Magnusson
Your name, title and university/department
Simon Magnusson — Postdoctoral Researcher, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden
Role in the project / main tasks
I’m one of the wheels Melisa refers to — rolling, rolling.
What’s the most interesting part about working on a project like Talk Green?
Linking broad, deeply human questions to the fine-grained details of interaction.
If you weren’t a researcher, what would you be doing?
Carpentry. Or — if time-travel were permitted — spending my days as an eccentric 19th-century aristocrat hosting salons and decadent masquerades.
If you were a tree, which one would you be — and why? 🌳
I’m allergic to most, but perhaps a beech: calm on the surface, but storing decades of weather and drama in the rings.
Which emoji best describes your research mood?
🤠🥺🤌🏻
simon.magnusson@sh.se
Eeva Kurenniemi
Your name, title and university/department
Eeva Kurenniemi, Master’s student, Environmental Change and Global sustainability (ECGS), University of Helsinki
Role in the project / what are you’re main tasks in this project?
I focus on integrating environmental and sustainability aspects into the project’s research tools.
What’s the most interesting part about working on a research project like Talk Green?
It is how inspiring the people are – the mix of perspectives, backgrounds and ways of thinking keeps expanding my understanding of sustainability and the complex systems behind it.
If you weren’t a researcher, what would you be doing?
A hunter-gatherer – foraging mushrooms, wild plants and berries, and good vibes.
If you were a tree, which one would you be — and why? 🌳
An Oak. One grows on my family’s ancestral land – so big it takes three people to wrap their arms around it. For me, it’s a symbol of continuity, roots and finding my place in that long chain of generations.
Which emoji best describes your research mood?
🤯🤓🌱🍀🌍🌈🌪️
eeva.kurenniemi@helsinki.fi
Krista Keränen
Your name, title and university/department
Krista Keränen — Research Assistant, Tampere University
Role in the project / main tasks
Helping with project’s communications, data management and analysis.
What’s the most interesting part about working on a project like Talk Green?
Fascinating and important topic which connects world-wide concerns to macro-level analysis of interaction.
If you weren’t a researcher, what would you be doing?
As a child I wanted to be a florist, so maybe I would do something concrete with my hands in the soil.
If you were a tree, which one would you be — and why? 🌳
I would be a fell birch, formed by northern winds: resilient and adaptable, responsive to its surroundings while grounded in balance and understanding.
Which emoji best describes your research mood?
🧐🤯🌈🪄💗🥳
krista.keranen@tuni.fi