Smriti Safaya

  • Fellowship in 2022 at University of York
  • Science Communication Studentship in 2020 at University of York

About Smriti Safaya’s work

Smriti Safaya is a researcher in the field of experiential science education, with a focus on citizen science and environmental behaviour psychology. She is studying how scientific and environmental advocate identity development is influenced by citizen science experiences, and how these factors relate to shifts in pro-environmental values, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours.

This topic is particularly under-researched in the Asian context, and Safaya's PhD study indicated stronger links between personal experiences in nature, the influence of others and one's values to preserve nature, on taking pro-environmental action after Hong Kong youth engage in school-based citizen science activities. She is now seeking to determine the most influential factors that determine why and how youth engage in pro-environmental behaviour as a result of exposure to environmental issues through citizen science, using comparative analysis across schools in Asia and Europe.

Biography

Smriti Safaya is doing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Environmental Sustainability Academy at the University of York, where she earned her PhD in the Education Department and in the Stockholm Environment Institute - York (in the Environment & Geography Department). She previously worked as an educator focused on geographic, environmental and experiential learning in two international schools in Hong Kong.