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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).

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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

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