Dea Nielsen
www.nesta.org.uk/team/dea-nielsen/
www.nesta.org.uk/team/dea-nielsen/
Lead Behavioural Scientist, fairer start mission
She/Her
Dea is a behavioural scientist, working in the A Fairer Start team to consider how to use behavioural science insights in the mission.
Before this role, she was a research fellow at the Better Start Bradford Innovation Hub and the University of York, where she worked on evaluations of early life interventions embedded in the community. She was also involved with projects using mixed methods approaches to understand the challenges parents face in accessing early childhood education and care.
Dea completed her PhD in Human Communication Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Her thesis focused on the language and literacy development of young children learning English as an additional language (EAL), and considered whether the predictors of children’s literacy skills differed depending on whether they were learning one language or more. She also holds an MRes and a BSc in Psychology from the University of York.
Outside of work, Dea can mostly be found tending to houseplants and her container garden, baking cakes (often with vegetables in) and spending time with family.
