HK (Hayley) Murray

Dr. Hayley Murray is an anthropologist and drug use researcher whose work focuses on youth recreational drug use, harm reduction, and the social dynamics of substance use. Her research examines how young people navigate pleasure, risk, care, and safer practices in changing drug landscapes.

Hayley has carried out applied and qualitative research with young people who use drugs in several European cities, including ethnographic work on peer-to-peer practices, risk behaviours, and harm reduction at music festivals and clubs. Her PhD dissertation, Young people, recreational drug use, and safer practices in a changing world: Futuring Harm Reduction, builds on this work by exploring how young people care for themselves and one another, and how their experiences can inform more practical and just approaches to drug policy.

Alongside her research, Hayley has extensive experience in project coordination and research management. She is project manager for the Embodied Ecologies and previously worked on ChemicalYouth project both ERC Advanced Grants lead by Prof Anita Hardon, where she combined research with editorial, communication, financial, and project coordination roles.