Dr Siân de Bell is currently working on the ‘Informing environmental investment for health and wellbeing’ project, which is funded by the South West Partnership for Environment and Economic Prosperity (SWEEP).

As an impact fellow on the project, she is helping to translate current evidence on the interconnections between the environment and health to inform environmental investment and management. The project involves working with stakeholders across the southwest, as well as a case study focusing on the needs of young people in the natural environment.

Sian moved to ECEHH in 2018 to work on Greenkeeper, an Innovate UK project with Vivid Economics and Barton Willmore, which developed a toolkit to value the benefits of urban green spaces. Her role involved collating current evidence on the benefits of these spaces and analysing secondary data relating to their health benefits.

Previously, Sian studied BSc Biology at the University of Bristol before moving to the University of York for her PhD. This was part of the ESRC-funded Health of Populations and Ecosystems (HOPE) project and investigated the benefits of freshwater blue space for health and well-being.

She analysed UK-wide data on the benefits of blue spaces, as well as using qualitative methods to investigate the dual benefits of an urban river restoration project for the environment and human well-being. Whilst at York, she also worked on a qualitative systematic review of environmental influences on older people’s travel behaviour.