I’m an artist, naturalist, gardener, ex civil servant and ex scientist interested in how green spaces can be created, interpreted and navigated for wellbeing, nature literacy and belonging. I believe natural landscapes and gardens should be as accessible as possible so that everyone can experience the richness of the natural world – a route to better mental health, community cohesion and preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change. I’m currently helping to care for an NHS garden in central London, designing multi-sensory tours of green spaces for groups facing barriers to access to nature, and volunteering with a sustainable flower farm.

In my artistic practice, I work with different media, including documentary photography, drawing and sound. My work is generally about looking more closely at what’s around us, and explores how people experience and relate to physical space and the natural world, with a particular focus on urban environments, environmental change, wellbeing and questions of access to nature. Drawing on my own preferences for how I engage with the world around me, I’m especially interested in how being curious about the different senses can open up alternative ways of appreciating nature. Looking at natural history, social context and lived experience, I try to work in a way that invites reflection and dialogue.

My past projects examine species, cultural practices and and their relationship with movement, space and the environment. Fly Over My City, developed in collaboration with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, explores the lives of common swifts, the built environment and the challenges of coexisting with urban wildlife. The project incorporates a soundscape to evoke the presence of a migratory species that is often heard but not so easily seen. In Manifestations: Lion Dance and I, exhibited in London in 2023, I documented a traditional Cantonese lion dance troupe, combining image and sound, including interviews, to explore rhythm, movement and the transmission of cultural knowledge within a Cantonese-British community.

I am a Fellow of the Linnean Society of Natural History, London, who I collaborated with in the Framed Fish Project. I am also a member of the London Natural History Museum.

Exhibitions

• Fly Over My City, exhibit at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, 2024
• Manifestations: Lion Dance and I, a self-curated mixed media two-day installation and talk in collaboration with Tang’s Pak Mei and Celestial Peach at the Charing Cross Library, London, 2023
• Fly Over My City, a mixed media exhibition as part of UAL graduation show at Free Range, London, 2023

Awards

• British Empire Medal for services to gender and equality, 2015

Education

• MA, Photojournalism & Documentary Photography, University of the Arts London, 2023
• MSc, Taxonomy & Biodiversity, Imperial College London, 2006
• BA, Biological Sciences, University of Oxford, 2004