Active life course lab
As an academic working in the oldest society in the world, I am fortunate to study the factors associated with active living across the life course (from youth to extreme old age). I am particularly interested in the physical activity and sports participation of middle-aged and older adults and how this translates into health, quality of life and longevity outcomes in developed societies. My research interests also extend to environmental influences on activity and behavior, including urban physical activity interventions and population-level effects of hosting sports mega events.
My main area of research is concerned with physical activity and human life course - examined through a social-ecological lens and employing innovative mixed methods. As part of this work, I head an Active Life Course lab at Waseda University in Tokyo, which focuses on evaluating and improving urban conditions to support increased levels of physical activity at all ages. I am also currently exploring the potential for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games to facilitate increases in population physical activity - an important opportunity in the context of aging societies. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of the Games have created new challenges for Tokyo residents and the international community, which are also being actively investigated. I hope to contribute to the growing understanding about the social and health-related impact of this terrible pandemic. Augmenting my research, I lecture and supervise students in the areas of health science, sports science, public health and environmental psychology. Within the wider academic community, I am an associate editor with the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity (JAPA) and a member of the European College of Sports Science (ECSS) and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Sport event legacies and urban interventions
Population physical activity and mega events
Urban development and active living
Social and environmental psychology
Environmental antecedents of health behavior
Scale development and psychometrics
Active and healthy aging
Determinants of physical activity in later life
Behavior change and interventions
EDUCATION
2010 - 2012
University of Otago (Christchurch School of Medicine)
PhD in Gerontology
2006 - 2008
Lincoln University
Master of Applied Science (first class honors)
2000 - 2002
University of Canterbury
Bachelor of Sport Coaching and Physical Education
Environmental health
Emerging environmental health risks
Athlete health and environment
1999 - 2000
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
NZQA Certificate in Fitness Industry Training