Smriti Safaya
Biography
● B.Sc. in Geology at University of California, Davis from 1998 – 2002
● M.Phil. in Earth Science at The University of Hong Kong from 2003-2005
● B.Ed in Education (Secondary Science) at University of British Columbia from 2006 - 2007
Presentations
● Co-presenter at the IB Global Conference (March 2019 in Hong Kong) about embedding service learning in the IB Middle Years Program (MYP).
Research
Title:
The contribution of nature-based citizen science on the pro-environmental values and behaviour of Hong Kong secondary schools students
Abstract:
Why don’t people always act on the values they hold dear? This phenomenon is known as the ‘value-action gap’ and has been a source of fascination and frustration for many in the socio-psychological and behavioural science fields for decades. As an experienced geography and world issues teacher, I have found students ‘talk the talk’, but few ‘walk the talk’. After years of incorporating field trips and place-based learning in my lessons, I became involved with ‘citizen science’, an experiential education approach. Citizen science is the collaboration between experts and non-experts in gathering data and answering questions about a particular issue valuable to a community. I want to know how could citizen science contribute to encouraging pro-environmental values, attitudes and behaviour in secondary school students? Currently, there is limited research about this topic, especially in the Asian educational context.
Supervisor(s)
Dr. Lynda Dunlop (Dept. of Education)
Dr. Sarah West (SEI-York at Dept. of Environment & Geography)
Grants
● Croucher Foundation Science Communication 2020-2022
● Sir Robert Black Trust 2019-2020
Teaching experience & Departmental Roles
Teaching experience
13 years of teaching at international schools in Hong Kong as a Geography and World Issues teacher at the secondary school level; with 8 of those years as Coordinator of Local and Global Engagement from primary to secondary level, focused on experiential education, environmental education, service learning and international mindedness.
Departmental Roles
PhD by Distance student representative (2019-current)
Other Roles at the University of York
Chair of the York Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Forum (website link:
https://www.yorkgsa.org/wellbeing-community/york-postgraduate-interdisciplinary-forum/)
