Jonn Axsen has come full circle.

After completing a bachelor of business administration degree in 2004 and a master of resource management degree in 2006 at SFU he earned a PhD in Transportation Technology and Policy in 2010 at the University of California, Davis (UCSD).

Now, after a postdoctoral year at UCSD designing a multi-regional survey to assess consumer response to electric-drive vehicles, he’ll return to SFU this summer as an assistant professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM).

And his work has just earned him the 2011 Young Researcher of the Year award from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Transport Forum.

Axsen was selected from a short-list of four candidates out of 40 entries from 16 countries for the US$7,000 prize, which is given to researchers under 35 years old.

Axsen’s research into sustainable mobility options employed consumer surveys, interviews, social network observations and consumer-design games to reach conclusions about the significance of social influences including friends, family, co-workers and strangers.

“While the price tag is important, what people think of our decisions is often of more value than information on vehicles found on websites or government-provided subsidies,” Axsen says.

And avid bicyclist, Axsen is looking forward to his return to SFU and his reunion with REM colleagues including professor and academic advisor, Mark Jaccard.

“Mark has had a tremendous influence in shaping my research focus,” says Axsen, whose research was recently cited in Forbes Magazine.

“He inspired me to critically evaluate environmental policy and put me in the direction of transportation and consumer behavior.”