Karen Nairn draws on her geography and education background to engage in interdisciplinary research with young people. Her current research with young activists is published in the book Fierce Hope. Youth activism in Aotearoa (Bridget Williams Books). The book focuses on what inspires young people to join others to create social change.

The book is about six youth-led groups working across a wide spectrum of intersecting causes – indigenous rights, climate justice, feminist and queer rights, and social and economic justice. The activism project builds on her earlier book Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School (Otago University Press, 2012).