Interests and Expertise
At the NbSI, my work is supported by the Royal College of Art’s Ecological Citizen(s) Network+ and developed in collaboration with the non-profit I Stand Beside. Together, we are co-creating a participatory digital platform and hosting interspecies assemblies (inspired by Joanna Macy’s Council of All Beings). I am evaluating how these forms of engagement shape participants’ sense of ‘ecological self’ – their identification or resonance with the living world, and how this may influence their motivation towards ecological advocacy.
My expertise lies in the cultural, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of human relationships with nature(s). I focus on group practices such as therapeutics, participatory deliberative processes, and rituals that invite people to remember that they are nature (rather than feeling separate from it). Through decolonial, feminist, and queer critical theory, I interrogate the assumptions and dissonances within some of these practices. By integrating multispecies studies and the arts, I aim to evidence and create the conditions for healthy, local, embodied socio-ecological relationships to thrive and joyfully persist.
Background
I hold an MPhil in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance from the University of Oxford. I have previously worked at the Ethox Centre (Oxford Population Health), where I examined the bioethics of adolescent mental health care in the UK and Brazil. At the Wildlife Trust, I facilitated public engagement with information about local biodiversity.
I have received funding from the Wellcome Trust and Oxford’s Arts, Ethics and Humanities programme to lead workshops exploring plant intelligence through sonic biodata technology. I also serve as a Treasurer and Trustee for two arts charities.