Rachel Pateman

Rachel Pateman is an Affiliated Researcher at SEI York.

She works on a freelance basis, working with government, research institutions and non-governmental organizations to evaluate and improve citizen science and other forms of public engagement with nature.

This builds on a career which began working for a conservation charity, followed by a PhD at the University of York studying the impacts of climate change on butterflies in the UK. Rachel then worked at SEI York from 2013 to 2025, first as a Research Associate and then Research Fellow.

During this time, she built expertise in citizen science. She designed and supported the running of citizen science projects on a range of sustainability-related projects in different parts of the world. She also conducted project evaluations and research into the experiences of citizen science participants, using this to make recommendations for improving citizen science practice. She also carried out research into the health and wellbeing benefits of nature, particularly in urban areas, presenting recommendations to city authorities as a result.

While at SEI, she held a number of institutional roles, including Staff Rep and Environment Rep. She was the coordinator for the centre’s Health and Wellbeing Research Group and supervised several Masters and PhD students. She was also an Associate Editor for the journal Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.