Dr Ans Vercammen

Overview

I obtained my first degree in Psychology (Experimental & Theoretical) from Ghent University in Belgium and completed a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Groningen. Following a postdoc at NeuRa in Sydney and a few years lecturing on psychology at the Australian Catholic University, I chose to shift my research focus to environmental issues, and how they affect individual and collective human health and wellbeing. I gained experience with grassroots commmunity conservation projects as a volunteer and completed the interdisciplinary MSc in Conservation Science at Imperial College London in 2016. I was a researcher at Imperial's Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College from 2017-2021. My research is now broadly focused on the human dimensions of environmental change, with a particular interest in how people (emotionally) connect with nature, determinants of pro-environmental behaviour, the health and wellbeing benefits of nature exposure and the mental health impacts of climate change.

Research Interests

  • Nature connectedness
    I am interested in people's connectedness with nature, how this is expressed, and how it links to pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.
  • Mental health impacts of environmental change / climate change
    Environmental change has many direct and indirect impacts on human lives. Apart from presenting a physical danger, environmental change may impact our mental health, experiences that are variably labeled as eco-anxiety, solastalgia, and ecological grief (among others). I am interested in understanding who is most affected by this, the conditions under which it may be adaptive (or not), how it's linked to agency and action-taking, and to what extent these experiences can be shaped to build greater resilience. I am involved with Climate Cares, a program of research led by the Institute for Global Health Innovation and the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London. We have collected data on young people's feelings about climate change in the UK, and we are working with a range of partners to expand this work globally.
  • Health and wellbeing benefits of engaging with nature
    I have previously collaborated with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the UK to assess the human wellbeing benefits of urban wetland environments. Next, I will be working with Zoos Victoria to develop a field experiment to test the physical and mental wellbeing effects of zoo visits and, in particular, immersive animal exhibits. I am also interested in what motivates people to visit urban green and blue spaces and how these spaces could be designed for maximal benefit, while also considering biodiversity values.
  • Metascience
    I am committed to supporting open science practices, both in my own work and by encouraging others. I also have an interest in improving peer review and critical appraisal of research for policy and practice.

Qualifications

  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Sustainability, Sustainability
  • Member, Society for Conservation Biology, Society for Conservation Biology
  • Honorary Fellow, Imperial College London, Imperial College London
  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Conservation Biology, Conservation Biology
  • Collaboration / Affiliation, Climate Cares, Climate Cares
  • Masters (Research) of Conservation Science, Imperial College London
  • Doctor of Philosophy of Behavioural Science, University of Groningen
  • Masters (Research) of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University
  • Bachelor of Psychology, Ghent University

Publications

View all Publications

Publications

Book Chapter

  • Aleman, André and Vercammen, Ans (2013). The “bottom-up” and “top-down” components of the hallucinatory phenomenon. The neuroscience of hallucinations. (pp. 107-121) edited by Renaud Jardri, Arnaud Cachia, Pierre Thomas and Delphine Pins. New York, NY, United States: Springer New York. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-4121-2_6

  • Aleman, André and Vercammen, Ans (2012). Functional neuroimaging of hallucinations. Hallucinations: research and practice. (pp. 267-281) edited by Jan Dirk Blom and Iris E.C. Sommer. New York, NY, United States: Springer New York. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-0959-5_20

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Weickert, Thomas, Weinberg, D., Lenroot, R., Catts, S. V., Wells, R., Vercammen, A., O'Donnell, M., Galletly, C., Liu, D., Balzan, R., Short, B., Pellen, D., Curtis, J., Carr, V. J., Kulkarni, J., Schofield, P. R. and Weickert, Cyndi Shannon (2015). Adjunctive Raloxifene Treatment Improves Attention and Memory in Men and Women with Schizophrenia. 15th International Congress on Schizophrenia Research (ICOSR), Colorado Springs, CO United States, 28 Mar-01 April 2015. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbv010

  • Ji, E., Weickert, C., Lenroot, R., Catts, S., Vercammen, A., White, C., Gur, R. and Weickert, T. (2015). Effects of adjunctive raloxifene treatment on brain activity during facial emotion processing in schizophrenia. 25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry Jointly with the 13th Meeting of the Asian Pacific Society for Neurochemistry in Conjunction with the 35th Meeting of the Australasian Neuroscience Society, Cairns, QLD Australia, 23-27 August 2015. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1111/jnc.13188

  • Derminio, Dominique S., Catts, Vibeke S., Rothwell, Alice, Moore, Loretta, Vella, Nicholas, Vercammen, Ans, Catts, Stanley V., Weickert, Thomas W. and Weickert, Cyndi Shannon (2012). Increased autoantibodies against brain tissue in schizophrenia. 67th Annual Scientific Convention and Meeting of the Society-of-Biological-Psychiatry, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 3-5 May 2012. Philadelphia, PA, United States: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.02.012