Laurence Cannings

I am a sustainability geographer, with a background in both quantitative and qualitative social science methods. My research interests broadly incorporate the interactions between environmental conditions, including climate risk, landscape changes and urban nature, with human wellbeing outcomes. My work has explored objective wellbeing outcomes, including financial poverty, and subjective outcomes capturing dimensions of happiness, satisfaction and longer-term eudaimonic components.

My current postdoctoral role is based within the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, in the School of Geography and Environment, with a specific focus on urban nature in Ghana, how it is valued and the potential subjective wellbeing pathways.

I received my PhD in Geography from the University of Southampton in 2025, where I explored the relationship between objective and subjective wellbeing in the vulnerable coastal location of Volta Delta in southeast Ghana. I also have experience working at the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for the Asia Pacific region, where I supported efforts to integrate broader concepts of wellbeing within nature-based solution projects.