Dr Liz Lakin is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Dundee. She teaches at both undergraduate and higher degree level in Education; has lectured in Life Sciences and teachers on the Geography and Environmental Science undergraduate degree programme.
Having worked for many years in Initial Teacher Education her teaching experience spans all levels of science and environmental education from primary and secondary to post-compulsory within both further and higher education. Her academic expertise is both education and ecologically focused with separate M Level qualifications in education and ecosystem services, and her doctorate is in science education and independent learning. Her research interests focus on teaching and learning in STEM-related subjects and areas of pedagogic expertise include independent and outdoor learning within the field of education for sustainability and nature-connectedness.
Liz works closely with the curator of the UoD Botanic Garden and is lead for the Botanic Garden’s Living Lab: a research-led university hub that drive’s our commitment to embedding sustainability through knowledge, engagement, collaboration and innovation. The Living Lab brings an opportunity for students, academic staff, professional staff, and external bodies to collaborate on projects looking at real-life sustainability problems. It looks to host projects where participants from different backgrounds partner to collectively address real-world sustainability challenges and opportunities, these include [but are not exclusive] landscape issues both green and blue infrastructure, education for sustainable development and nature-based solutions. The Living Lab has grown out of a new doctoral programme with an initial focus on forming a cross disciplinary collaboration of established researchers, new post docs and self-funded PhDs and MSc’s that started in January 2021. Partners include local, national and international schools, research-based centres such as the James Hutton Institute and the Royal Society, other universities and various NGOs nationally and internationally. Liz is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, former trustee and inaugural chair of the Society’s Degree Accreditation Committee. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management [CIEEM] and sits on both the British Ecological Society’s and CIEEM’s Education Committees. Liz has just joined the Royal Society’s Partnership Grant Scheme as a panel member.
