The Science of Scent

September 2025. Available here.

‘If we can identify the kinds of environments that support mental health, there’s potential to inform how we design and manage our urban green spaces.’ Molly Tucker, 2025

As part of the University of Oxford's Climate and Environment education campaign, OXLEL researchers Molly Tucker and Kieran Storer explain their work which aims to better understand how green spaces contribute to human wellbeing.

Focusing on the importance of scent from plants, Molly and Kieran have been running trials in various glasshouses at the Oxford Botanic Gardens to determine the specific 'smellscapes' associated with each climatic region (from rainforest to arid) and the potential implications for human health and well-being.

It is hoped that results will inform urban planning strategies to ensure local green spaces remain available for all.

Increasingly our lives are moving online, but nature – and spaces like the Botanic Garden – has a very unique way of grounding you in a moment where you see something beautiful, or there's a particular smell that you associate with your childhood or the season.’ Kieran Storer, 2025