Dr Alex Smalley
A brief bio
✉ a.j.smalley@exeter.ac.uk
I'm a scientist and communicator aiming to understand more about how experiences in nature can impact people’s wellbeing. My research focuses on virtual encounters with the natural world, and involves creative approaches to data collection and analysis.
Academic research.
I hold a PhD in environmental psychology from the University of Exeter and since 2017 have been investigating how encounters with the natural world can influence people’s wellbeing. I focus on multisensory forms of digital nature and want to understand more about how these experiences can impact cognitive and emotional outcomes.
My research has been funded by the Wellcome Trust and based at the University of Exeter.
Selected publications
Smalley et al., 2022 doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102497
Smalley and White, 2023 doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.101955
Smalley et al., 2023 doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102060
Yeo et al., 2020 doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101500
Putting evidence into practice.
I’ve worked with the BBC Natural History Unit and Audible to create a new 8-part series that aims to harness the therapeutic potential of nature.
Written and narrated by me, Dr Alex Smalley, and produced by Barney Rowntree, Lee Bacon, Amelia Paul, and Scarlet Mehta, the series features incredible immersive soundscapes from Chris Watson, and an original score from Laraaji.
Creative science.
I have led several research projects with transdisciplinary academic and broadcasting teams. These endeavours have developed novel methods of scientific enquiry: integrating quantitative experiments into creative narratives, collaborating with world-leading sound recordists and musicians, and engaging diverse audiences in the debates surrounding nature and health.
Analytical methods.
My work is data-driven and incorporates large, complex, randomised experiments that reveal new insights into the relationships between nature, people, and wellbeing.
To date, my published research has used the programming software R to employ statistical methods that include multiple regression and structural equation modelling.
Behind the scenes.
My expertise has underpinned programme development for both TV and radio, putting findings directly into practice through evidence-based design.
In the spotlight.
Science should have an impact beyond academic boundaries and to that end, I have presented my research at the House of Lords, the British Academy, and the BBC Academy. This work has also helped to stimulate societal debate on the intersection between nature and health across several national and international platforms.
Broader experience.
In 2006 I graduated first class (honours) with a BSc in environmental sciences, studies that focused on atmospheric physics and physical oceanography and were split across the University of East Anglia and the University of California, San Diego. After cutting my teeth as a junior weather forecaster in Sydney, Australia, I began working as a policy assistant at Defra in 2007 before a year-long spell as a climate change consultant at a private consultancy firm.
In 2008 I joined BBC News as a producer in the BBC Weather Centre, implementing various data-driven innovations that remain in use today. I relocated to the South West and the University of Exeter in 2011, where I managed the communications of three large pan-European research grants – work that ultimately drew me into the design of several pioneering virtual reality studies and the development of my own research agenda in 2017.
Get in touch via a.j.smalley@exeter.ac.uk