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Biography

Professional biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences in the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences  (EEES) at the Open University—my research interests centre on environmental science education, particularly technology-enhanced learning, inclusive fieldwork learning and eco-anxiety.

I teach across the Environmental Sciences curriculum and am chair of the level 3 module S397 Terrestrial Ecosystems

I am a Fieldcast team member, awarded an Advance HE Collaborative Award in Teaching Excellence in 2024 for creating an authentic, inclusive and engaging method for teaching environmental science fieldwork and making practical field experiments accessible to students remotely, at scale. 

Research interests

I am researching ecoanxiety and learning: Ecoanxiety and environmental education: stories, conversations, actions | School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences (open.ac.uk) 

I am co-developing and researching practical science education resources for improving participation in STEM subjects, particularly among girls, with Open STEM Africa.

I have been involved as a researcher on various technology-enhanced and virtual reality learning projects, particularly involving accessibility, including the Enabling Remote Activity project which won an OU teaching award and a Handheld Learning Award. I have worked on the Out There In Here project (Social inclusion through synchronous distributed team collaboration) and the fieldwork strand of the OU’s Open STEM Laboratory project and on networked resources for STEM learning, particularly on new blends of physical and digital resources in the ‘Hybrid/Digital/Material/Networked learning project. 

Teaching interests

My teaching in the Environmental Sciences focuses especially on plants, soils and ecosystems. I have taught and developed teaching materials as a member of several module teams at the Open University and have taught Environmental Management and Environmental Law at Masters Level at De Montfort University.  

I have also developed teaching materials around water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental health for the HEAT and OpenWASH projects working with academics and practitioners in Ethiopia. 

Projects

[E3] - Astrobiology at The Open University

Social inclusion through synchronous distributed team collaboration. (H-09-023-AA)

Publications

Book Chapter

Enabling remote activity: widening participation in field study courses (2016)

Journal Article

Enabling remote access to fieldwork: gaining insight into the pedagogic effectiveness of ‘direct’ and ‘remote’ field activities (2012)

Other

eSTEeM Ten Years of Scholarship and Innovation: Marking the tenth anniversary of the OU Centre for STEM Pedagogy (2020)

15 Practical Tips for Online Teaching (2020)

Presentation / Conference

eXtended Reality and Accessibility in Online and Distance Learning: Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges (2024)

Ecoanxiety and environmental education: stories, conversations, actions (2024)

Pathways and Intersections: Investigating awarding gaps on cross-faculty modules and degrees (2023)

Embedding research into teaching: practices, motivations and impacts (2023)

The plant communities of urban ancient woodlands: Post-urbanisation changes in ground flora species composition. (2023)

Alternative fieldwork, “real-world” communities (2022)

Transforming astrobiology research and innovation: embedding an ethos of engaged research (2021)

Urban Ancient Woodland in Britain’s Modern Landscape (2021)

Openness and collaboration in astrobiology education (2020)

Broadcasting from the field: enabling student-led investigations by distance (2020)

Inclusive Field Kit: sharing approaches for including students with disabilities (2020)

Live, interactive fieldcasts: How flexible and robust is our technology and teaching design to multiple changes? (2019)

Widening access to fieldwork for large numbers of students with interactive livecasts (2018)

Digital, material and networked: some emerging themes for SET education (2015)

Remote laboratories: Lessons from the literature (2015)

3D virtual geology field trips: opportunities and limitations (2014)

Examining hybrid digital/material resources in networked learning: a critical realist approach (2014)

3D virtual geology field trips: opportunities and limitations (2013)

Hybrid digital/material/networked learning: scruffy mongrel or sleek new breed (2013)

Live linking of fieldwork to the laboratory increases students inquiry based reflections (2011)

Enabling live dialogic and collaborative learning between field and indoor contexts (2011)

Designing interconnected distributed resources for collaborative inquiry based science education (2011)

Working with ‘mission control’ in scientific fieldwork: supporting interactions between in situ and distanced collaborators (2011)

Enabling remote activity: using mobile technology for remote participation in geoscience fieldwork (2010)

Out there and in here: design for blended scientific inquiry learning (2010)

ERA: On-the-fly networking for collaborative geology fieldwork (2008)

Presentation / Conference Contribution

Mitti Matters: Co-creating a proposal to research enhanced ecosystem services from green spaces (2025)

Opportunities and challenges of tertiary level ICT-based science education in Ghana (2023)

OpenSTEM Africa: Strengthening science education in Ghana (2020)