Tanya Dean

Tanya Dean is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Brighton's School of Art and Media, leading the Polymers and Composites Department. Her work bridges material innovation with cultural critique, focusing on waste transformation and sustainable design. She collaborates with global manufacturers (e.g., ICI, Lucite) and NGOs (e.g., Vision Aid Overseas) to explore materials' environmental and social impacts.

Dean's research emphasizes redefining 'waste' as a resource through creative processes. Her projects include Sole-Searching (2019), which uses footwear to examine waste narratives, and the Wiki-Waste-Workshop (2020), promoting circular economy practices. She co-led the Waste It's Mine It's Yours project (2019), fostering community-driven design solutions.

Her exhibitions and artifacts have been featured in international media, including the BBC and Design Week. Awards and recognitions are not explicitly listed, but her work has gained significant academic and public attention.

Dean supervises topics in material innovation, cultural value of materials, and sustainable design. Her lab environment merges technical experimentation with critical discourse on material ethics and environmental stewardship.