Speech title:
The psychological benefits of aquatic environments: 10 years of the Blue Gym project

Mat White completed his PhD in Social Psychology at Sheffield University in 2004 examining public trust in risk managers and communicators. His post-doc work focused on looking at the determinants of subjective wellbeing where he became increasingly interested in the relatively under-researched role of natural environments.

For the last 10 years he has worked at the multidisciplinary European Centre for Environment & Human Health leading the Blue Gym team, exploring the health and wellbeing effects of contact with marine and inland waters.

Recent/ongoing projects he is involved in include the EU funded BlueHealth (https://bluehealth2020.eu/: 14 EU countries plus, USA, Australia, Canada & China) and Seas Oceans and Public Health in Europe (https://sophie2020.eu/: 14 EU Countries) projects, as well as the Global Challenges Research Funded Blue Communities (https://www.blue-communities.org/Home: Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia).