Andy Lechter is Programme Director for the PGCert and both the online and in-person MSc programmes in Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture. He began his career as an ecologist before transitioning into the humanities and the Study of Religion.

His work focuses on the critical and psychological study of so-called “dark green” religions—traditions that centre relationships with the nonhuman world, including Paganism, shamanism, animism, and psychedelic spiritualities. He is particularly interested in how psychedelic experiences are interpreted through religious and spiritual frameworks, as well as the often-unexamined theological assumptions that underpin aspects of psychedelic research, especially in relation to the psychology of mysticism.

Andy Lechter is the author of Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom (Faber & Faber, 2006), along with numerous academic papers on psychedelics. His recent research explores the use of psychedelics among contemporary Druids.