School of Social & Political Sciences

Dr Dafni Kalatzi-Pantera

  • Early Career Leverhulme Fellow (Research Associate) (Political & International Studies)

Biography

I am an Early Career Leverhulme Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences, having been awarded a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship in 2025. My current research project, The Politics of Mobilising the Winners of the Energy Transition, examines the political dynamics shaping support for low-carbon transitions.

I received my PhD from the University of Essex in 2023. My research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including European Journal of Political Research, The Lancet, and Environmental Politics.

My website is available here: https://dafni-kalatzipantera.github.io/

Research interests

My research lies between comparative politics and the political economy of climate. At its core, all my work seeks to answer a key question: What drives climate action among the societal actors essential for the transition? In particular, I focus on environmental behaviors of individuals, political elites, and corporations by exploring the motivations, incentives, and constraints that influence environmental behavior across different contexts. 

Methodologically, I use causal inference designs (observational, experimental) and computational text analysis.

Research groups

Publications

Prior publications

Article

Dafni Kalatzi-Pantera, Yun Jung Yang (2025) When It Rains, It Pours: The Impact of Disasters on Child Soldiering by Rebel Groups Journal of Global Security Studies Crossref. (doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogaf033)

Niheer Dasandi, Slava Jankin, Dafni Kalatzi Pantera, Marina Romanello (2025) Public engagement with health and climate change around the world The Lancet Planetary Health University of Birmingham. (doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(25)00029-4)

Dafni Kalatzi pantera (2024) Does global integration foster environmental mobilization? Environmental Politics University of Birmingham. (doi: 10.1080/09644016.2024.2386800)

Kim R van Daalen et al. (2024) The 2024 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action The Lancet Public Health Dafni Kalatzi-Panera. ISSN 2468-2667 (doi: 10.1016/s2468-2667(24)00055-0)

Dafni Kalatzi Pantera, Tobias Böhmelt, Zorzeta Bakaki (2023) The transnational influence of natural disasters on environmental attitudes European Journal of Political Research Crossref. (doi: 10.1111/1475-6765.12572)

Grants

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship & Lord Kelvin/Adam Smith Scheme(03/2026-02/2029). The Politics of Mobilising the Winners of the Energy Transition. PI, £202,000.

Supervision

I am happy to supervise undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students working on topics related to the politics of climate change, including environmental behaviour, climate attitudes, and the politics of the energy transition.


Dr Dafni Kalatzi-Pantera on Bluesky