Mark’s undergraduate degree was in Environmental Sciences, and postgraduate degree was in Sustainability. This interdisciplinary training focused on the balance between improving human development while reducing our impacts on the natural environment. Since graduating, Mark’s research has centered on measuring access to green infrastructure and assessing the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.

Mark’s PhD project is titled: Using birth cohorts to understand the impact of urban green space on child health and wellbeing

To do this Mark will produce environmental data to assess contact with nature. He will link this longitudinally to health outcomes amongst children growing up in two UK birth cohorts;
ALSPAC (Bristol) and Born in Bradford. In doing so, he will contribute to the knowledge of mechanisms by which the natural environment may produce improved health outcomes. Focussing upon childhood, he will improve the understanding of if we accrue health benefits during this period, and whether this influences health and wellbeing throughout the life course.