Our research
Everything people do, they do in a physical environment. The physical environment shapes what we do, feel and think. Sometimes we are aware of this and seek out specific environmental opportunities to reap specific benefits, for instance, we may go for a walk in the park for exercise or relaxation.
People also shape their environment with their actions, sometimes intentionally (e.g., move a chair to sit closer to the table), sometimes unintentionally (cause air pollution when driving).
Research aims
Our research aims to understand when and how people interact with different types of environments and how these interactions affect both the quality of that environment and people’s own wellbeing.
We are continually advancing methods in people-environment research. We develop conceptual theoretical frameworks and psychological measures to assess human-environment interactions. Our work is interdisciplinary and applied. We collaborate with acoustic engineers, natural scientists, stakeholders in policy and practice and many more. We study a broad range of environments from the home to the workplace, the city to the global climate.
Most of our work falls broadly within the following research themes:
- The natural environment
- Place and space
- Sustainability.
