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Dr Alex Smalley

Communications specialist

  • +44 (0) 1872 258135
  • a.j.smalley@exeter.ac.uk

Dr Alex Smalley is a researcher and communicator aiming to understand more about how experiences in nature can impact people’s wellbeing.

Alex holds a PhD in environmental psychology from the University of Exeter and since 2017 has been investigating the cognitive and emotional impacts of virtual encounters with the natural world.

His Virtual Nature project involved creative approaches to data collection and analysis, working with interdisciplinary teams from the arts, media, and science to weave large-scale experiments into national broadcast outputs, and engaging diverse audiences in conversations surrounding nature and health.

Alex has worked with the BBC on several research collaborations, including the award-winning Radio 4 series Forest 404, the cross-platform BBC Music initiative Soundscapes for Wellbeing, and the BBC Four series Mindful Escapes.

Most recently, he partnered with the BBC Natural History Unit and Audible to create the Healing Power of Nature, an immersive 8-part audio series, written and narrated by Alex, that introduces key concepts from the field of environmental psychology.

Alex also has a background in the physical sciences and science communication, where he spent over a decade communicating complex concepts to a range of national and international audiences.

Following an undergraduate degree which focused on atmospheric physics, he worked as a weather forecaster in Australia, as a policy assistant at Defra, as a climate consultant for private consultancy, and as a producer at BBC News, before joining the University of Exeter where he led the science communication activities of two large pan-European grants, BlueHealth and SOPHIE.

Read more about Alex and his work here.

Dr Alex Smalley
Full publication list

Key Colleagues

  • Dr Mathew White

    Dr Mathew White

  • Prof Lora E Fleming

    Prof Lora E Fleming

  • Dr James Grellier

    Dr James Grellier

  • Prof Emma Bland

    Prof Emma Bland

  • Prof Ruth Garside

    Prof Ruth Garside

Related content

News

Nature soundscape experiment launched!

Take part in a new experiment with the BBC and help us shed light on how ‘listening to nature’ could impact wellbeing.

Research project

BlueHealth

A transdisciplinary international consortium that investigated how aquatic environments can affect the health of Europe’s population.

Research project

Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe

A pan-European initiative to coordinate research into the links between the marine environment and human health.

Contact details

European Centre for Environment and Human Health

University of Exeter Medical School

Peter Lanyon Building 12

Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8RD

  • T: +44 (0) 1326 371859
  • E: ECEHHAdmin@exeter.ac.uk

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