Mathew White
Mathew White
Tenure-track professor
Head of the Ecological Public Health Group
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About Mat
Mat is a health and environmental psychologist specialising in Ecological Public Health, in particular the role of urban and different types of natural environments (green and blue spaces) on mental health and health-related behaviours (e.g. physical activity, smoking). He completed his PhD in 2004 at the University of Sheffield and has since worked at the universities of Jena (Germany), Plymouth and Exeter (UK) before moving to the University of Vienna in October 2020 with his long-term collaborator Prof. Sabine Pahl (Chair of Urban and Environmental Psychology). There, he was awarded a tenure-track professorship in Health and Environmental Psychology in February 2025.
Mat has worked on several large-scale international projects looking at aquatic environments and human/public health including the EU H2020 funded Blue Health (19 Countries across Europe, North America, Australia) and SOPHIE (Seas Oceans and Public Health in Europe; 15 Countries Europe & Australia) projects, and the GCRF funded ‘Blue Communities’ project (Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam). His work in this area was recognised with the 2019 Delcroix Prize for Oceans and Human Health.
Currently he is Principle Investigator on the EU Horizon Europe RESONATE project (2023-2027) exploring how nature-based therapies might build individual and community resilience, and a Co-Investigator on two further Horizon Europe projects ZeroPM (looking at ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS) and health) and GOLIAT (looking at 5G technology and health).
A key part of his current role at the University of Vienna is to bridge the research being conducted within the Urban and Environmental Psychology group.
CV
Projects
Zero pollution of Persistent, Mobile substances
Building Individual And Community Resilience Through Nature-Based Therapies
Publications
2026
Fried, N., Wala, A., Elliott, L. R., Pahl, S., Arnberger, A., Bell, S., Bratman, G. N., Browning, M. H. E. M., Fleming, L. E., Grellier, J., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Ojala, A., Roiko, A., van den Bosch, M., Wheeler, B. W., & White, M. P. (2026). The restorative power of blue spaces: A 19-country study. Landscape and Urban Planning, 276, Article 105739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2026.105739
Lamm, C., Steininger, M., Schenk, L., Nitschke, J., & White, M. (2026). Brief virtual nature exposure and acute stress: inconclusive evidence regarding stress reactivity, recovery, and emotion regulation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 114(103181). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103181
White, M. P., Egger, J. A. M., Amato, G., Astell-Burt, T., Bekke-Hansen, S., Borja, A., Burov, A., Busse, S., Costongs, C., Dimitrova, D., Doimo, I., Dzhambov, A. M., Elliott, L. R., Godfrey, A., Grellier, J., Hartig, T., Hartl, A., Nyed, P. K., Konijnendijk, C., ... van den Bosch, M. (2026). Testing nature-based biopsychosocial resilience theory: a research programme protocol. Archives of Public Health, 84(1), Article 90. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-026-01903-5
Hampejs, V., Wala, A., Tran, U. S., Pahl, S., Egger, J. A. M., Voracek, M., & White, M. P. (2026). Health and well-being in nature: Analysis of 18,054 visit reports and implications for nature-based biopsychosocial resilience theory (NBRT). Journal of Environmental Psychology, 110, Article 102918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102918
Köhler, J. K., Fian, L., White, M., Nijssen, S., & Pahl, S. (2026). Actively distancing from climate radicals improves public support for moderate climate activists. Communications Psychology, 4(55). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-026-00412-z