ABOUT ME

I am a writer, freelancer, and postgraduate student at the University of Helsinki. I was 17 when I completed my first university degree, with highest honours. Ever since I was young, learning has always been one of my main motivations. Reading, thinking, writing, and discussing. Trying to understand myself and the world.

My education has taken me to nine different institutions in six countries across two continents thus far. My main research interests include high-control religious movements (and in particular Conservative Laestadianism), as well as social control, expulsion, shunning, and ostracism. I am furthermore interested in Nordic migration and settler colonial studies. Nordic Studies is my main focus at the moment, especially my research on Conservative Laestadianism and Finnish American culture. I am currently employed as a research assistant by the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki within Dr. Jeremy Land's rector-funded project on 18th century maritime trade between Stockholm and Amsterdam.

BACKGROUND & PRESENT

Originally from Central Minnesota, I am now at home in Fiskars Village.

Dual citizen of Finland and the United States. Fluent in Finnish and English, beginner in Swedish and Mandarin Chinese.

In the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, my family moved from Taivalkoski, Ylitornio, Vaasa, and Åland to Minnesota and California. They left for better lives and the hope of a brighter future, and also participated in the settler colonialism of the United States. Some of my ancestors were part of the pietist Lutheran revival movement launched by Lars Levi Laestadius, a Swedish-Sámi botanist and priest, in the Tornio River Valley in the 1840s. Others converted in the United States. In 2014, I gained an opportunity to study and live at a folk high school in Ranua connected to the movement — a chance to become acquainted with my Finnish background and explore whether Conservative Laestadianism was right for me. Over the course of that year, I came to the conclusion that it was not. After formally exiting the Conservative Laestadian movement the following autumn, I wanted nothing to do with the entire topic for several years. I experienced shunning by previously close family members and the loss of nearly my entire community of origin. With the space of time and distance, I more recently became interested in again engaging in the topics that have affected so much of my life and experience — Finnish migration to the United States and Conservative Laestadianism. In my master's thesis research, I am studying Conservative Laestadian expulsion and shunning practices. My study offers a historical look at expulsion and shunning from the 1970s to present and includes comparison with more well-known religious shunning practices. I plan to graduate in June 2026.

QUALIFICATIONS & EDUCATION

PRESENTUniversity of Helsinki
Finland		master's programme in European & Nordic Studies
Nordic Studies track
PAUSEDUniversity of Helsinki
Finland		master's programme in Atmospheric Sciences
Biogeochemical Cycles track
2019Novia University of Applied Sciences
Finland		Bachelor of Natural Resources, Sustainable Coastal Management
Environmental Planner Certification
Courses and internships in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland
2019St. Cloud State University
USA		Bachelor of Elective Studies, Liberal Studies
Minor in Geography
2015Macalester College
USA		Courses in economics, classics, and Mandarin Chinese
2015Folk High School of Ranua
Finland		Courses in textile handwork, woodwork, Finnish language, culinary arts, etc
2014St. Cloud State University
USA		Associate of Arts, Liberal Arts and Sciences
Summa Cum Laude