Maryam is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellow at SCARP, working with Associate Professor James Connolly (UBC) and Professor M. Reza Shirazi (Oxford Brookes University, UK). Her European Commission–funded project, INCLUDE, develops innovative, justice-centred frameworks to advance inclusivity in urban community gardens through intensive research in Vancouver and Oxford, supporting municipalities in creating more equitable and accessible green spaces aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
She previously led a BA/Leverhulme-funded study on ethnic engagement in community gardens and has secured multiple UK research grants. She holds a PhD in Landscape Architecture from the University of Sheffield (2020), where her doctoral research on restorative environments and children’s relationships with outdoor spaces was published in leading journals, including Journal of Environmental Psychology. She brings extensive international research experience across the UK, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Maryam’s research bridges participatory planning, urban justice, and community wellbeing, focusing on addressing socio-spatial inequities through inclusive urban policy and practice. Her work centres on urban inclusivity and spatial justice; participatory and community-engaged planning; urban community gardens and green space governance; restorative environments; and healthy urban environments, particularly human–environment interaction.
Working closely with residents, civic organisations, and public authorities, she adopts a co-productive approach to knowledge generation. Her methodological expertise spans ethnographic interviews, behavioural mapping, participatory workshops, and visual creative methods. Through this interdisciplinary approach, she translates scholarship into actionable policy tools that support healthier and more inclusive cities.
