Maria Helena Saari

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education and Psychology. I currentl work as Co-lead of WP2 Unlearning with Other Species in the MUST: Enabling Multispecies Transitions research project (funded by the Strategic Research Council, 2023-26). As a Co-lead of WP2, I’m working on just multispecies transitions in education across policy, pedagogy and practice.

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:

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

Researcher information

Researcher profiles

Contact information

E-mail

Maria.Saari@oulu.fi