Urban nature and health
Dr Amy Hahs, University of Melbourne
Dr Hahs is an urban ecologist with an established research career investigating how urban landscapes impact the local ecology. Since 1999, she has written and co-authored over 100 academic articles and delivered more than 70 talks, lectures and interviews to Australian and international audiences.
Dr Amber Pearson, Michigan State University
Dr Pearson is a health geographer with a focus on social justice and intersections between spatial and social features of neighborhoods. Specifically, her research relates to aspects of the neighborhood built, physical and social environment that may bolster opportunities for a healthy life, often in the face of socioeconomic adversity. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University and an Adjunct Fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago.
Dr Martin Breed, Flinders University
Dr Breed is a scholar of ecosystem health, restoration ecology, and genomics. He pioneers the integration of genomics and health into restoration ecology. He leads an integrated team under two initiatives: The Healthy Urban Microbiome Initiative (HUMI) and the Frontiers of Restoration Ecology (FORE) group.
Dr Emily Flies, University of Tasmania
Dr Flies is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania, where she is exploring how anthropogenic (human-driven) changes to the environment are impacting human health. She is focusing on health of people in urban environments and how urbanisation and urbanicity (city living) impact the health of urban residents.
Environments and health
Dr Javad Koohsari, Waseda University
Dr Koohsari is with Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan (The laboratory website link). As an urban designer, Dr Koohsari’s research focuses on how urban studies can contribute to population health, especially in the context of super-aged societies. His recent works examine the effects of urban design attributes on cardiovascular disease.
Dr Marta Jankowska, City of Hope
Dr Jankowska is the lead researcher of an National Science Foundation funded grant examining the relationship between the built food environment, obesity, and dietary behaviors. Her expertise is in spatial analytics including GIS, GPS, and spatial statistics as applied to health related problems. Follow the Healthy Data at Scale Collaboratory on Twitter.
Children, youth, environments and health
Dr Melody Smith, University of Auckland
Dr Smith is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. Key drivers of her research are aspirations for neighbourhoods where children can be independently mobile, where people can get around safely by walking and cycling, and where social and physical well-being is prioritised and facilitated.
Dr Rachel Peters, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Dr Peters is an epidemiologist and NHMRC Early Career Fellow within the Population Allergy research group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her research interests include identifying risk factors for food allergy, phenotyping childhood allergic diseases and understanding the role that infant food allergy plays in the development of chronic allergic disease.
Dr Kate Lycett, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Deakin University
Dr Lycett is a co-funded NHMRC and National Heart Foundation Early Career Researcher. Her research interests span child mental health, sleep, obesity, cardiovascular health, epidemiology, public health, and well-being at both the individual and societal levels.
Dr Suzanne Mavoa 