1. Green energy products: the role of market intermediaries in influencing consumer purchasing decisions.

How can we improve the market uptake of green energy products such as solar heating, energy efficient appliances and insulation?

This project aims to bridge the gap between end consumers and green energy products by examining the role of market intermediaries in shaping consumer choices. Market intermediaries, such as retailers, contractors and builders – that is, those who purchase such green energy products from manufacturers and then sell them and/or install them for end consumers - play a key role in shaping consumer purchasing decisions for these products; however, their influence is often overlooked in both government-based strategic plans and market research aimed at increasing consumer uptake of green energy products for the home.

Evidence suggests that consumers still find it is ‘too hard’ to purchase many green energy products because of lack of information, lack of awareness, high cost and, in some cases, difficulty locating market intermediaries who sell and/or are willing to install a product. As a result of these barriers, many consumers who are interested in the purchase of such products give up long before the purchase phase, while others make purchases unaware that there are more efficient products on the market. Market intermediaries, on the other hand, often have little financial incentive to sell an energy efficient appliance over a standard appliance, or do not have the awareness of product attributes.  By developing an understanding of how market intermediaries influence consumer purchasing decisions of green energy products, tools can be developed that will effectively enable and encourage further promotion, sales and inventory of these products and contribute to the larger goal of reducing energy footprints in Ontario and beyond.

2.  Residential energy conservation behaviour

How can we continue to encourage people to change their behaviour regarding household energy use?

This is one of the questions I am looking into with my energy conservation behaviour research. Primarily, I am interested in examining reasons why households are finding it difficult to conserve energy and then coming up with ways to overcome these barriers. Community-based social marketing, social influence, market transformation (e.g. diffusion of innovation theory), decision influences and motivators are some of the theoretical bases from which I consider the issues of energy conservation.

Over the past few years, some of the energy projects I have worked on include:

• The Reduce the Juice project; The Waterloo Region Residential Energy Efficiency Project (REEP);
• Teen attitudes and awareness of electricity conservation issues in Ontario

3. Engaging youth in environmental issues

The youth of today are tomorrow’s business leaders, decision-makers, homeowners and energy consumers.  This is one reason why it is important to encourage youth to become interested in energy issues. Much of my research and community outreach involves working with youth on various energy-related projects. The Reduce the Juice project, for example, used community-based social marketing strategies to involve local high school students (with undergraduate students as their team leaders) to develop a community outreach program that encouraged local residents to reduce their energy use. More recently, I worked with students in the environmental club at Centre Dufferin District Secondary School in Shelburne, Ontario on the Shelburne Power Awareness Project. These students gave thirty local residents Powercost Monitors to provide real-time feedback on their household electricity use.  The students conducted pre- and post-interviews and monitored each household’s electricity use on a weekly basis. The results were then analyzed by our research team and presented at the UW Energy Days. The third project involved assessing the attitudes and awareness of Ontario teens towards electricity conservation. The purpose of this study, commissioned by the Ontario Power Authority, was to establish some baseline information on teens as well as develop recommendations on effective ways to reach and engage teens so that they become more interested in energy conservation.

Past Projects

1. Environmental Management in the Airline Industry

Waste minimization (airports and airlines)

My interest in minimizing the waste produced from inflight meals was sparked by five years work experience as a Flight Attendant and Inflight Director for Air Transat. Through this experience I was able to see first hand what the barriers and opportunities for reducing an airline's environmental impact in the area of waste management. Reseach that I have completed in this area includes:
 • Identifying barriers and opportunities for effective waste management at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International airport
 • Examining ways to minimize and reduce waste created from inflight meals
 • Exploring the current regulations and standards for waste management in the airline industry
 • Conducting waste audits of the inflight service of 4 international airlines including Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Ansett Australia, Air Transat and Singapore Airlines

Motivations for environmental commitment in the airline industry

My doctoral research used a case study of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) to examine an airline's decision-making processes and drivers for environmental commitment. Although the airline industry is part of the service sector, it possesses several characteristics similar to those of manufacturing industries including intense regulation, high entry barriers and high capital costs, with tendencies towards oligopolies. It thus provides an interesting juxtaposition between the 'heavy' industries sectors such as the chemical, mining and energy sectors (the focus of much of the empirical research on environmental motivations) and the more consumer-oriented service components of the service industry.

This study used two key decisions that were made at SAS to demonstrate how environmental issues were taken into consideration in the airline's decision-making process. The first decision focused on a strategic move by the airline in 1995 to purchase 'environmentally-friendly' aircraft engines, and the second decision dealt with a new inflight service concept, Scandinavian Direct, that was created by SAS following the economic downturn in the industry in 2001.

• 15 page summary of thesis (pdf)
• Related publications, papers and presentations

2. Women, Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development

In 2005 I worked with Susan Wismer (Associate Professor, Environment & Resource Studies, University of Waterloo) on the entrepreneurial experiences of women who have participated in the program Shad Valley. Shad Valley is a summer program for young Canadians in secondary school (generally going into their final year of high school) that combines entrepreneurship with science and technology. Participants of the Shad Valley program spend the month of July at one of eleven universities across Canada, where they live on campus, attend lectures and workshops, and get involved in group projects. The focus of the program is on stimulating creativity and nurturing initiative, values, and problem solving while challenging participants to meet high ethical considerations in relation to social and environmental responsibility in business, technology and science (Shad Valley 2005).

• Shad Valley web site
  

The purpose of our study was to look at how Shad Valley has encouraged young women to pursue successful entrepreneurial endeavours. In 2005 Shad Valley celebrated it's 25th anniversary, and has had over 8,400 participants since its inception in 1981. Demographic information that has been collected about Shad Valley participants shows that almost 50% of Shad Alumni are young women: an encouraging statistic given the traditionally low proportion of women entering science and technology disciplines. This research is founded on the premise that encouraging women to pursue entrepreneurial initiatives at a young age will provide them with a catalyst to help them successfully 'jump-start' their ideas.