MsNicole Bruges

Nicole is currently undertaking her PhD exploring how local governments are addressing climate change and health using a systems thinking approach within their municipal public health and wellbeing plan.

She was involved in a project Keeping the Future in Mind a project focusing on climate change in young people's mental health. This participatory research used Group Model Building (GMB) to produce a casual loop diagram identifying the key factors affecting climate related mental health and the ways in which these factors influence each other. Nicole's role within this research was in the development the causal loop diagram highlighting the subtopics and presenting back to the participants the findings from previous sessions. A paper has been published from this research.

Nicole was also involved in a research project titled Healthy Me, Healthy Planet. The program was an evidence informed pilot program designed to promote the health co-benefits of actions on climate change including physical health, mental health, social connection and pro-climate environmental knowledge and attitudes. Deakin university health nature sustainability research group was the research and evaluation partner for the program. Nicole's role within this project was in the evaluation and helping to facilitate the focus groups, the qualitative data analysis and thematical coding as well as helping prepare the final report. A paper has been published from this research.

Overall she has a particular passion for the following research areas:

- Climate Change, Nature and Health Outcomes.

- Health Benefits of Green Spaces. 

- Setting Based Approaches.

- Health Promotion.

- Health Program Planning and Evaluation.

- Planetary Health.

- Planetary Health in the Health Promotion Workforce.

- Determinants of Health.

- Sense of Place.

- Systems Thinking Approaches 

- Qualitative Research