AGILE: Environment and National Security: Exploring Policy 'Demand Signals' and the Science Response - Co-I

Oxford Human-Nature Health Research platform - Ecological Collective Flourishing (ECoFlOx) - Academic PPIE lead & Senior Researcher (previously NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Flourishing and Wellbeing Theme)

REFRESH: Water Cycle for Resilient Heritage - UK PI

Leah Tavasi, DPhil student

Roland Chen, DPhil student

My interdisciplinary research advances the science of ecological flourishing by conceptualising, measuring, and (co)designing environments that enable people and ecosystems to thrive together. I argue that environments are active determinants of human and ecological flourishing - not passive settings in which flourishing happens.

I am a Senior Researcher and first-generation academic at the University of Oxford, and a member of the Oxford Human–Nature Health Research Platform (OxHNH). My training as a stonemason, combined with a doctorate in Cultural Heritage Science and Physical and Environmental Geography, uniquely shapes how I investigate environments as evidence - across centuries, ecosystems, and societies.

My interdisciplinary research integrates physical, environmental, social, digital, and mental health and wellbeing sciences to deliver innovative insights and solutions, while also addressing systemic inequalities and promoting decolonised research practices. 

My work enhances historic and contemporary environmental systems for 21st-century societies through three key themes:

Working with Nature – Nature-based Solutions: Co-leading initiatives such as Agile - Is "nature" a policy solution to mental health in schools?, the Urban Bio-Labs project and the international SXNCH network, I facilitate synergies between nature and culture to enhance resilience, sustainability, and public engagement with eco-cultural systems contributions.

Collaborating with Communities – Human-based Solutions: Through the 'Smart Urban Culture' initiative, I spearhead Lab-In-Your-Pocket, transforming smartphones into tools for scientific, emotional, and environmental literacy, and support disadvantaged youths in partnership with the Polar Academy, promoting citizen science and equitable education.

Learning from the Past – Culture-based Solutions: My OPAQ project utilises Oxford's stone-built heritage as a geochemical archive to track historical and contemporary air quality, including microplastics, linking cultural heritage directly to public health and sustainable urban development.

My international collaborations span diverse communities and stakeholders from Pompeii and Petra to colleagues engaged in partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia's Kakadu National Park.

For the Geography dimension please visit here.