Dr. Alexia Barrable

Social Sciences

Dr Alexia Barrable is a Teaching and Research Faculty Member in Developmental Psychology. Her research examines human’s relationship to nature, taking a lifespan perspectives. Previous work has looked at how different childhood experiences can promote (or hinder) nature connection in children, and how positive childhood nature experiences shape lifetime nature connection, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. Her theoretical work has supported a drive for autonomy in nature, while her latest inter-disciplinary work on Dirty Play brings together microbial ecology, immunology and developmental science.

Dr Barrable is interested in promoting mental health and wellbeing across the lifespan through interactions with the natural world. In a recent experimental study, she and her co-authors found that learning about holobionts significantly increased nature connectedness scores. She has also studied nature connectedness as a possible risk factor for psychological distress after the 2024 Attica wildfires.

Her most recent work focuses on “dirty play” through the Dirty Play Lab, a play space co-designed with children that explores how soil, water, plants, insects and decomposition can support healthy microbial exposure, nature connection and optimal development.

She won the 2019 Estelle Brisard Award (Scottish Educational Research Association) and has given a TEDx talk.