Professor Karen Witten, Associate Director at the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, was the lead investigator for Kids in the City. Her research interests centre on interactions between the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods and cities and the social relationships, transport choices and wellbeing of those living in them.
Professor Robin Kearns is in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. His research interests span aspects of social, cultural and health geography. His expertise lies in qualitative field methods and analysis.
Melody Oliver is Associate Professor at The University of Auckland. Her work focuses on environmental associates of activity in children and their families. She is the lead researcher for Neighbourhoods for Active Kids.
Professor Helen Moewaka Barnes (Ngāti Wai/Ngāti Hine/Ngāti Manu) is director of Whāriki and co-director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre. Her work is both qualitative and quantitative and she is also involved in developing research within Māori paradigms.
Suzanne Mavoa is a GIS Analyst/Researcher at SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University and the McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Australia. She is undertaking a PhD relating to Kids in the City. Her area of expertise is Geographic Information Systems.
Dr Lanuola Asiasiga is a researcher at SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University. Her primary research interest is Pacific people’s wellbeing and most of her research projects — including Kids in the City and Neighbourhoods and Play – have touched on some aspect of this.
Dr Penelope Carroll is a researcher at SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massy University. She was a post-doctoral fellow on Kids in the City and has led two follow-up projects, Neighbourhoods and Play and the Children-researching-children pilot study. Research interests include wellbeing, social policy and community development, with a particular focus on the wellbeing of children in cities.
Dr En-Yi (Judy) Lin is a researcher at SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massy University. Her research interest is Asian people’s wellbeing, especially their adaptation and transition into a foreign land — a significant aspect of the Kids in the City study and the follow-up Children-researching-children pilot research.
Dr Hannah Badland is a Research Fellow at the Place, Health and Liveability Program, McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research expertise lies in investigating relationships between physical activity and the built environment.
Julia McPhee is Research Manager at the Human Potential Centre AUT, providing support with research design, methodology, and project management on Neighbourhoods for Active Kids. Recently completing a Master’s degree in Public Health, Julia has extensive experience in several research areas including; the built environment, human nutrition, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and wellbeing.
Nick Garrett is a Senior Research Fellow/Biostatistician at AUT in the department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. His research areas include urban design, physical activity, GIS, spatial analysis, environmental health, Maori and Pacific Health, gambling, tobacco, family violence, health access and equalities, communicable diseases and public health.
Karl Parker is a statistician at the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre at Massey University. He is currently working on a range of projects including helping with the analysis of the Kids in the City project.
Nicola Fa’avale (née Tava’e;Samoan, Niuean and Tongan) is a SHORE and Whariki Research Centre (Massey University) PhD student affiliated with the Kids in the City research. She is particularly interested in the impact of Samoan parents’ parenting practices and their influence on their children’s independent mobility and physical activity levels.
Erika Ikeda completed her Bachelor of Sport Science at University of Juntendo in Japan and Master of Health Science in Physical Activity and Nutrition at AUT. Erika is a PhD student affiliated with the Neighbourhoods for Active Kids (NfAK) study. Her PhD research will focus on the influence of built and social environments on children’s active travel to school.