Hannah Badland

Professor Badland's research examines how the environment is connected to health, wellbeing, and inequities in both adults and children internationally, with an interest in vulnerable communities. Her interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research program engages with end-users, typically policymakers and non-government organisations, to influence on-the-ground change. She is currently working on two major research themes. One is enhancing the social determinants of health for those with disability. The other focuses on reducing inequities in early childhood development. The emphasis in both these streams is investigating how local built and social environments support or hinder opportunity and understanding impacts of any inequity.

Professor Badland earned her PhD in public health from Auckland University of Technology (NZ) where she investigated associations between the built environment and travel behaviours in adults. Since then, she has been employed in research intensive positions internationally, leading to over 160 research articles in leading interdisciplinary journals, and has received more than $19M in competitive research funding. Hannah was the inaugural Australian Health Promotion Association Thinker in Residence, recipient of the Scopus Australia and New Zealand Outstanding Researcher of Excellence in Women Research Award, is a Salzburg Global Fellow, has received more than 30 awards and prizes, and is an Associate Editor for Health & Place.

Professor Badland is a Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow and the Director of the Social & Global Studies Centre at RMIT University.