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Katrin Wilhelm

PhD


Senior Researcher of Eco-Cultural Heritage and Wellbeing

  • Co-Lead: Oxford Resilient Buildings and Landscapes Lab (OxRBL)
  • Co-Lead: Oxford’s global hub for Sites at the Intersection of Natural and Cultural Heritage (SXNCH)

Advancing Human and Environmental Health through Research on Eco-Culture, Heritage, and Contemporary Environments

Academic profile

I am a senior researcher and first-generation academic with a unique background, blending expertise in stonemasonry with a doctorate in Cultural Heritage Science, Physical, and Environmental Geography. My work integrates physical, engineering, social, environmental, digital, and health sciences, with a commitment to addressing systemic inequalities and decolonising research practices. My research focuses on enhancing historic and contemporary environment system contributions for 21st-century societies through three interlinked themes:


Working with Nature – Nature-based solutions:

This theme fosters synergies between 'nature' and 'culture' to enhance resilience and sustainability. The Urban Bio-Labs project, involving interdisciplinary teams and non-academic partners, examines how plants can engage the public with urban heritage. Additionally, I co-lead the international SXNCH network, focusing on natural and cultural heritage intersections to synchronise knowledge, diversify participation, and build resilience.

Collaborating with Communities – Human-based solutions:

Under the 'Smart Urban Culture' theme, I lead the Lab-In-Your-Pocket transforming smartphones into tools for digital, emotional, and environmental literacy, promoting Citizen Science. In partnership with the Polar Academy, I support 'invisible' teens, using smartphones to improve education for disadvantaged students and elevating smartphones from 'toys' to valuable scientific 'tools'.

Learning from the Past - Culture-based solutions:

The OPAQ project in Oxford uses the city's stone-built heritage as an indicator of historical air quality, turning urban heritage into a geochemical archive for past and present air pollution, including microplastics. This initiative links urban heritage with public health to promote the development of healthy, sustainable cities.

Beyond local, regional, and national networks, my international community and stakeholder engagement extends from Pompeii (Italy) to Petra (Jordan), and includes collaborations with colleagues and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Kakadu National Park (Australia).

Current project

I have recently started as Senior Researcher on the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Flourishing and Wellbeing Theme. The project investigates how gardens, woods, workplaces, and museums can serve as dynamic 'living laboratories' to rigorously test new initiatives, aiming to determine how non-clinical experiences and interventions relate to mental health and wellbeing outcomes. I am leading the PPIEP and collaborative community outreach, co-design and participatory research to deliver scientific, infrastructural and public health goals.