Dr Stacey Heath

Professional biography

I am a social and environmental psychologist and lecturer at the Open University, working at the intersection of social psychology, human geography, and environmental sciences. My research adopts an interdisciplinary lens to understand how climate-related changes - ranging from extreme weather events and rising sea levels, to shifts in seasonal patterns and strategies of mitigation and adaptation - intersect with group dynamics, social and place-based identities, and environmental and culturual contexts. I seek to understand how these factors shape both individual and collective wellbeing, influence patterns of behaviour change, and inform community resilience and engagement.

Drawing on principles from social and environmental psychology, health, and human geography, I employ a mixed methods approach (e.g. participatory research, interventions, longitudinal statistical models, and social prescribing) to address pressing contemporary issues, including the impacts of large-scale group changes such as migration, adaptation, and disasters.

Ultimately, my work seeks to understand how the hybridisation of social and environmental psychology, along with human geography, can collectively leverage social dynamics, foster equitable mobilisation, and enable succesful, sustainable, and transformative group chnage in the context of anthropogenic climate change.

I have taught across an array of social psychology, research methods, and human geography undergraduate and masters courses.

I have facilitated groups 4 health and groups 4 education (see https://www.groups4health.com/) groups and, as part of my PhD project and an impact accelerator grant, I developed and facilitated several SUSTAIN programs collaboratively with local councils and the NSPCC to community members that are (or have been) undergoing community change – such as regeneration.