about
Alicia Hayden is an award-winning & internationally recognised creative biologist and multidisciplinary wildlife artist from North Yorkshire.
With a degree in Biological Sciences (MA Hons) from the University of Oxford, and a Master's in Wildlife Filmmaking from the University of the West of England, she works across fine art, film, animation, photography, writing, puppetry, and performance to tell stories about the natural world.
She feels passionately that the arts are a vital part of successful conservation, crossing boundaries, languages, and countries to create empathy and drive emotional, meaningful change.
Alicia has been working freelance across the arts since 2020, and is a Daler-Rowney, Canson, & Lyra Ambassador.
Alicia spent two years working at BBC Studios Natural History Unit in children's TV, with experience across both development, production, and the edit as a researcher, graphic designer, and illustrator.
She now works freelance across the arts, with clients including BBC Studios, Studio BlueGreen, St Helen's Farm, London Graphics Centre, the University of Oxford, David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, HUE Cameras, and many more.
Alicia is confident teaching & leading workshops about wildlife art and artivism - her recent 'draw with me' series with Studio BlueGreen has amassed over 600,000 views across Instagram & TikTok. She is confident teaching both in-person and online, catering her classes and workshops to children, young adults, and adults alike.
Alicia is an award-winning wildlife artist; she has placed three times in the prestigious international competition David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF)'s Wildlife Artist of the Year. Her piece When the Whale Sang won the Human Impact category (2021), and was displayed as part of a touring UNESCO exhibition (2022). More recently, her piece Charcoal sold in Mall Galleries as part of the 2024 Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition, with 50% of profits going to DSWF for conservation across Africa and Asia.
She is a Daler-Rowney Ambassador - also representing Canson & Lyra (FILA), working to bring the natural world into the public eye through her art - including their Graduate campaign, and a banner for London Graphics Centre (2023).
As a photographer, editor, and filmmaker, she has worked for clients including Wildlife Countryside Link, UK Youth 4 Nature, Invicta Wildlife Fund, the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation - often operating as the solo camera operator for events, conferences, and projects.
As well as her work as an artist, Alicia is a writer & poet. Her work as a writer has seen her publish several poetry books in collaboration with different organisations since 2020; as well as writing for Into the Red (2022), Resurgence & Ecologist (2025), RSPB's Wingbeat (multiple), and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) (multiple).
Alicia is also a partner artist for David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Africa Wildlife Artists, and Mammal Society; an ambassador for Invicta Wildlife Fund.
She sat on the BTO Youth Advisory Panel from 2021 to 2025, and was a Girls Who Click Ambassador between 2023 to 2025, and 2026 to 2027.
