Description of research and teaching

I am an Academy Research Fellow with a master’s degree (M.Scs.) in social and cultural anthropology and a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in the study of religions. My research interests range from the anthropology of religion (especially Buddhist and Tibetan studies) to migration, Buddhist monasticism, gender, and family life.

For my PhD research, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork among Tibetan Buddhist nuns in India and the Tibetan regions under the Republic of China. I have also extensively studied Buddhism in Finland, conducted ethnographic fieldwork among Thai Buddhist women living in Finland, and conducted research on Thai berry pickers (in the AspirE project).

My current research project Negotiating Buddhism in Finnish-Thai homes. Family, migration and religion (NeBu) examines the impact of Thai Buddhism and culture on the decision-making and everyday practices of Finnish Thai transnational families. As a side project, I also study Buddhist death and contemporary menstruation beliefs (MenU) in Finland.

Besides various articles, I have authored the book Power and Agency in the Lives of Contemporary Tibetan Nuns: An Intersectional Study (2023) and co-edited a book on Buddhism in Finland, Buddhalaisuus Suomessa (2023), and a volume on Buddhism in the Nordic Countries (2025)

I have a teaching qualification in university pedagogy and previously worked as a university lecturer in urban theology and the study of religions. Besides teaching at the university, I give lectures to a broader audience, especially on topics related to Buddhism. I supervise PhD dissertations at the University of Helsinki (Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences, and Theology) and at Tampere University.

I serve as the book review editor for a peer-reviewed academic journal Temenos. I am also the Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee for the Humanities at the University of Helsinki and I am a member of the research committee at the Faculty of Theology.