Dr Alex Smalley

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

Based at the University of Exeter's European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Alex holds a PhD in environmental psychology and since 2017 has been investigating the cognitive and emotional impacts of virtual encounters with the natural world.

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.

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.

Alex also has a background in the physical sciences and science communication – 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 three large pan-European grants, ECEHH, BlueHealth, and SOPHIE.

Read more about Alex and his work here.