Lara Leik, MA, BSc
Tel. +43 512 507 62101
Email: Lara.Leik@uibk.ac.at
Research area: Waste treatment and resource management
Description and areas of focus
Lara Leik has been working at the Environmental Engineering Unit at the University of Innsbruck since November 2025. Her research focuses on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in biogenic waste streams. In her PhD project on PFAS in biogenic waste streams, she is investigating, along the bio-waste–compost–agriculture–food–human chain, how communication about PFAS needs to be structured to prevent contamination at source. She thus brings her interdisciplinary background in environmental analytics, environmental psychology and environmental education, as well as the health literacy approach, to the research group.
Education and career
Lara Leik combines an analytical and natural science background with a social science one: Her bachelor’s thesis in analytical chemistry focused on pharmaceutical residues in edible plants; in her subsequent interdisciplinary master’s degree in environmental psychology and sustainability sciences, she used mixed-methods approaches to investigate what motivates university lecturers to to integrate sustainability topics into their teaching. Prior to this, she completed a nursing qualification in Heidelberg and worked in acute psychiatric care for several years.
At the University of Salzburg, she worked in sustainability research and networking and contributed to the university’s sustainability strategy; at the Vienna University of Education, she is involved in EU and Erasmus+ projects on the European competence frameworks for sustainability (GreenComp) and democratic culture (RFCDC). She teaches at the University of Continuing Education Krems on the topic of teaching sustainability in adult education, has presented at academic conferences and is active in science communication on climate, sustainability and behaviour. Through her long-standing involvement with Scientists for Future Austria, where she founded and led both the national and the Salzburg regional groups, she has developed a systemic perspective on environmental issues and built up a network spanning academia, public administration and civil society.
