Liz Obrien

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT LIZ OBRIEN

My research experience and interests concerns the well-being benefits that people gain from engagement with trees, woodlands and green spaces at a variety of different levels of activity from ‘hands on’ engagement, such as volunteering, to using and being in woodlands through walking, cycling etc. This aspect of my work focuses particularly on health and restoration in terms of physical and mental health, and also on education and learning particularly through the Forest School approach to learning. I am interested in how the benefits people gain can potentially lead to wider impacts on individuals lives, and community development and capacity. In exploring people’s relationships with nature I also have a specific interest in marginalised or excluded groups of people and the barriers that prevent these groups of society from benefiting and accessing woodlands and green spaces. I have undertaken action research to gather data and embed learning into institutions and groups/individuals. I am and have been involved in a number of interdisciplinary projects with ecologists, economists, psychologists, biologists and this is a particularly important way of gaining different perspectives and understanding other approaches and methods and seeing how these can be incorporated into my own work. Specialties: health and woodlands, education and learning in woodlands, social and cultural values of woodlands