Maria Helena Saari

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education where I work in the Academy of Finland funded research project CitiRats-From Citizen Science to Non-Anthropocentric Education and the GINTL Project ‘Co-Designing Relevant & Responsive Teacher Education’ between University of Oulu & University of Namibia. I am currently a Visiting Scholar at the Human-Animal Studies Hub at the University of Lisbon where she is PI of the project FlourishED: Environmental Education for Multispecies Flourishing and Sustainability. 

I am Co-Leader of the Envisioning Sustainability Research Hub of the Biodiverse Anthropocenes Research Program and Chair of the Finnish Critical Animal Studies Network (CASFinland). I co-coordinate and teach the courses 'Introduction to Environmental Education', 'Multispecies Childhood Studies - Challenging Anthropocentrism in Education', and 'Master's Thesis Seminar on Multispecies Environmental Research & Sustainability Education'. Prior to my research career, I worked in the field of education in teaching and leadership roles.

My research interests broadly include:

• human-animal relations
• animals in education (policy & pedagogy)
• animal-inclusive pedagogies (e.g. humane education)
• pre-service teacher education
• environmental education & ecocritical pedagogies
• education policy
• animal law
• critical animal studies
• multispecies sustainability & justice