Marleen Onwezen is a special professor at Wageningen University & Research, focusing on Behavioural Economics in Enduring Sustainable Food Choices. She also serves as theme ambassador for consumer science and expertise leader in consumer behaviour at Wageningen Social and Economic Research, where she sets the research agenda and leads large-scale projects on sustainable and healthy food choices. Her work centers on understanding and influencing consumer behaviour, with key themes including alternative proteins, emotions, and social norms.
In recent years, Marleen has led a range of interdisciplinary research projects exploring how consumer choices can become more sustainable and enduring. She aims to identify behavioural insights that help people make healthier and more sustainable choices—choices that persist over time, transfer across settings, and span multiple sustainability domains.
Beyond her academic roles, Marleen is actively involved in shaping national research and policy agendas, reflecting her passion for translating science to society. She is the figurehead of the Dutch Scientific Agenda (NWA) “Competent Consumers,” a member of the advisory board of the Food Education Platform, and contributes to advisory committees on sustainable consumer behaviour for Dutch ministries. She is also part of the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda team (KIA-team) for a healthy and sustainable food environment and consumer behaviour.
At AMS Institute, Marleen applies her behavioural science expertise to develop and evaluate interventions that foster more sustainable and just urban food systems. Her work focuses on designing scalable strategies to encourage sustainable consumer choices in complex urban environments. She looks forward to using this role to discover new ways to translate science into societal impact and is seeking effective interventions that can serve as examples for other domains.