Steinberger was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Lausanne and then the University of Zurich, working alongside Claudia Binder.[1][10] Steinberger was appointed Senior Researcher at the University of Klagenfurt Institute of Social Ecology in 2007.[11] Her research considers the relationships between the use of resources (energy, materials and emission of greenhouse gases) and performance of societies (wellbeing and economic output).[12][13] She is interested identifying new development pathways toward a low carbon society.[14] She joined the University of Leeds as an associate professor in ecological economics in 2011.[15] She is a member of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy (CCCEP).[16]