Staff Profile
Career Summary
Biography
In the early 1970s, I completed the first environmental psychology research masters at the University of Hawaii examining human-environment interaction in the context of Japanese perceptions and use of residential space. My doctoral fieldwork (community/clinical psychology) in Southeast Asia critically analysed the role of western-oriented psychiatric institutions in the context of non-western cultural values and healing practices and pioneered the concept of culture-accommodation of mental health care (Third World Challenge to Psychiatry (1984)). The theme of linking individual human action with broader social, cultural and political-economic contexts has dominated the inter-disciplinary and transdisciplinary research programs and publications I have developed over the past 21 years at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics. With a 5-year NH&MRC program grant in the 1990s, I designed a community development strategy aimed at reducing the epidemic of heart disease in the Upper Hunter coalfields. This experience taught us that cross-disciplinary perspectives are required to gain a comprehensive understanding of health problems in a dynamic bio-social ecosystem. Working through the Coalfields material, Albrecht, Freeman and I constructed the first transdisciplinary analysis of heart disease, informed by complexity theory, which became a central case study in our pioneering 2001 research text, Health Social Science (Oxford Uni) and a companion volume, Applying Health Social Science (Zed Books). All of the 26 research theses that I have supervised over the past 18 years integrate inter-disciplinary design components linking human action with the dynamics of context. The ARC Discovery Grant (Open Cuts to Land and Culture, 2005-2007) has furthered my extensive collaboration with Connor and Albrecht in which my career-long experience in developing and empirically testing models of human action is being applied to explain Upper Hunter community members responses (perceptions, appraisal, social behaviour) to massive environmental transformation.
Furthermore, I have taken substantial responsibility internationally for establishing the newly emerging perspective of transdisciplinary health social science. I authored the first two textbooks published in this field and have delivered a number of keynote lectures outlining the fields theoretical and methodological underpinnings, including: 2005 World Congress, International Forum for Social Sciences & Health, Istanbul, Turkey; 5th Asia Pacific Social Science & Medicine Conference, Kunming, China, 2002; INCLEN 18th Global Scientific Meeting, Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, 2002; 4th Asia Pacific Social Science & Medicine Conference, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 1998; 3rd Asia Pacific Social Sciences & Medicine Conference, Perth, 1996; International Conference on Capacity Enhancement for the Social Sciences in Health, Ontario, Canada, 1995; INCLEN Twelfth Annual Scientific Meeting, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1994; 2nd Asia Pacific Social Sciences & Medicine Conference, Manila, 1994; International Epidemiology Association Global Conference, Sydney, 1993.
In order to develop research capacity in health social science, I have contributed to the following international organisations:
- Founder & Coordinator, INCLEN (International Clinical Epidemiology Network) Social Science Committee
- Member, INCLEN Pharmaco-Epidemiology Committee
- Member, INCLEN Capacity Building Committee
- Founder & Steering Committee Member, International Forum for Social Sciences in Health
- Founder & Secretary, Asia Pacific Network of International Forum for Social Sciences in Health
- Associate Editor, Kluwer Book Publishers Series, International and Cultural Psychology: Topics, Issues and Directions.
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Hawaii - USA
- Bachelor of Arts, United States International University
- Master of Arts, University of Hawaii - USA
Research
Research keywords
- environmental distress
- environmental psychology
- survey design methods
Research expertise
The theme of linking individual human action with broader social, cultural and political-economic contexts has dominated the inter-disciplinary and transdisciplinary research programs and publications I have developed over the past 21 years at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics. With a 5-year NH&MRC program grant in the 1990s, I designed a community development strategy aimed at reducing the epidemic of heart disease in the Upper Hunter coalfields. This experience taught us that cross-disciplinary perspectives are required to gain a comprehensive understanding of health problems in a dynamic bio-social ecosystem. Working through the Coalfields material, Albrecht, Freeman and I constructed the first transdisciplinary analysis of heart disease, informed by complexity theory, which became a central case study in our pioneering 2001 research text, Health Social Science (Oxford Uni) and a companion volume, Applying Health Social Science (Zed Books). All of the 26 research theses that I have supervised over the past 18 years integrate inter-disciplinary design components linking human action with the dynamics of context. The ARC Discovery Grant (Open Cuts to Land and Culture, 2005-2007) has furthered my extensive collaboration with Connor and Albrecht in which my career-long experience in developing and empirically testing models of human action is being applied to explain Upper Hunter community members responses (perceptions, appraisal, social behaviour) to massive environmental transformation.
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 111700 | Public Health And Health Services | 55 |
| 160899 | Sociology Not Elsewhere Classified | 30 |
| 170199 | Psychology Not Elsewhere Classified | 15 |
Administrative
Administrative expertise
I served as a senior member of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle taking on such roles as: Head of Discipline; Deputy Director of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics; Chair, Postgraduate Education Program; Member of School of Medicine & Public Health Executive; Member, Faculty of Health Board.
In order to develop research capacity in health social science, I have contributed to the following international organisations:
- Founder & Coordinator, INCLEN (International Clinical Epidemiology Network) Social Science Committee
- Member, INCLEN Pharmaco-Epidemiology Committee
- Member, INCLEN Capacity Building Committee
- Founder & Steering Committee Member, International Forum for Social Sciences in Health
- Founder & Secretary, Asia Pacific Network of International Forum for Social Sciences in Health
- Associate Editor, Kluwer Book Publishers Series, International and Cultural Psychology: Topics, Issues and Directions
Teaching
Teaching keywords
- health psychology
- health social science
- program evaluation
Teaching expertise
For over twenty years I taught postgraduate courses in health social science, health survey design, transdisciplinary approaches to public health research, and social program evaluation and planning.
I have taken substantial responsibility internationally for establishing the newly emerging perspective of transdisciplinary health social science. I authored the first two textbooks published in this field and have delivered a number of keynote lectures outlining the fields theoretical and methodological underpinnings, including: 2005 World Congress, International Forum for Social Sciences & Health, Istanbul, Turkey; 5th Asia Pacific Social Science & Medicine Conference, Kunming, China, 2002; INCLEN 18th Global Scientific Meeting, Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, 2002; 4th Asia Pacific Social Science & Medicine Conference, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 1998; 3rd Asia Pacific Social Sciences & Medicine Conference, Perth, 1996; International Conference on Capacity Enhancement for the Social Sciences in Health, Ontario, Canada, 1995; INCLEN Twelfth Annual Scientific Meeting, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1994; 2nd Asia Pacific Social Sciences & Medicine Conference, Manila, 1994; International Epidemiology Association Global Conference, Sydney, 1993.
Grants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 15 |
|---|---|
| Total funding | $1,992,241 |
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2008 (2 grants)
Climate change, place and community: An ethnographic study of the Hunter Valley, New South Wales$135,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Linda Connor, Conjoint Professor Glenn Albrecht, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $135,000 | 2008 | 2011 |
| GNo:G0187498 | ||
Climate change, place and community: An ethnographic study of the Hunter Valley, New South Wales$83,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Linda Connor, Professor Glen Albrecht, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $83,000 | 2008 | 2011 |
| GNo:G1000060 | ||
2005 (2 grants)
Open Cuts to Land and Culture: Rural Community Engagement with Large-Scale Industrial Development.$122,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Linda Connor, Conjoint Professor Glenn Albrecht, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Discovery Projects | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $122,000 | 2005 | 2007 |
| GNo:G0184379 | ||
The effect of drought on rural and remote Australian communities$9,421
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Professor Brian Kelly, Associate Professor Helen Stain, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Conjoint Professor Glenn Albrecht | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $9,421 | 2005 | 2005 |
| GNo:G0184757 | ||
2004 (2 grants)
Changing diets, levels of activity and environments and their relationship to the emergence of adolescent overweight and obesity in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam$273,806
Funding Body: Nestle Foundation
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dr Hong Tang, Doctor Michael Dibley, Mr Kim Nguyen, Conjoint Professor David Sibbritt, Dr Thanh Phan Nguyen, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Research Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $273,806 | 2004 | 2010 |
| GNo:G0184894 | ||
Psychological and social monitoring of Hunter environmental change.$15,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Professor Linda Connor, Conjoint Professor Glenn Albrecht, Conjoint Professor Wayne Smith, Doctor Craig Dalton | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $15,000 | 2004 | 2004 |
| GNo:G0183538 | ||
2003 (1 grants)
Relating Ecological and Human Distress Syndromes: a Pilot Investigation in Upper Hunter Communities Exposed to Large Scale Industrial and Mining Activity$14,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Professor Linda Connor, Conjoint Professor Glenn Albrecht, Conjoint Professor Wayne Smith | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $14,000 | 2003 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0182454 | ||
2001 (2 grants)
School-Based Education Program to Prevent the Uptake of Smoking by Male Junior High School Students in Yogyakarta, Indonesia$10,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $10,000 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0179983 | ||
Impact of electronic information on patient health seeking behaviour, decision-making & wellbeing.$9,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dr Anni Dugdale, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Project Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $9,000 | 2001 | 2001 |
| GNo:G0180029 | ||
2000 (2 grants)
Anthropometric status of adult men and women in Vietnam and the relationship between levels of body mass indicator and risk of morbitity in adults(Scholarship)$89,840
Funding Body: Wellcome Trust
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Doctor Michael Dibley | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Senior Research Fellowship in Medical Science | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $89,840 | 2000 | 2002 |
| GNo:G0179014 | ||
Conceptions of Nourishment During Pregnancy Among Primiparous Australian Women of English-Speaking Backgrounds: Influence of Social Class and Sources of Health$12,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Professor Linda Connor, Doctor Michael Dibley, Conjoint Associate Professor Andrew Bisits | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Small Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $12,000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| GNo:G0178954 | ||
1995 (2 grants)
International Forum for Social Sciences in Health$94,500
Funding Body: Ford Foundation
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Research Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $94,500 | 1995 | 1995 |
| GNo:G0175412 | ||
Social Science Twinning Project$73,673
Funding Body: International Clinical Epidemiology Network
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emeritus Professor Richard Heller, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Research Grant | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $73,673 | 1995 | 1995 |
| GNo:G0176109 | ||
1994 (1 grants)
Planning proposal to set an initial agenda for Asia and the Pacific Regions of the International Forum for Social Sciences in Health.$51,000
Funding Body: Ford Foundation
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| Research Grant | Chief Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $51,000 | 1994 | 1994 |
| GNo:G0173361 | ||
1990 (1 grants)
Implementation and Evaluation of Various Strategies to prevent Heart Disease$1,000,001
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Project Team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emeritus Professor Richard Heller, Associate Professor Nick Higginbotham, Emeritus Professor Annette Dobson | ||
| Scheme | Role | |
| PHRDC Project Grant (Defunct) | Investigator | |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
| $1,000,001 | 1990 | 1995 |
| GNo:G0175454 | ||
Research Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 0 |
|---|
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | PhD (CommunityMed & ClinEpid) | Principal Supervisor | Smoking Inoculation Program to Prevent the Uptake of Smoking Among Junior High School Students in Yogyakarta Municipality, Indonesia |
| 2003 | Masters Public Health Not Elswr Classi University of Notre Dame Australia - The | Principal Supervisor | Veteran satisfaction with a home based preventive care intervention |
| 2002 | PHD Public Health Not Elswr Classi University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor | Home hazards and falls prevention in home-based health assessments for older people in the community |
Associate Professor (Nick) Higginbotham
| Work Phone | (02) 40420558 |
|---|---|
| Fax | |
| Nick.Higginbotham@newcastle.edu.au | |
| Positions | Break in Appointment School of Medicine and Public Health Faculty of Health and Medicine |
| Associate Professor School of Medicine and Public Health Faculty of Health and Medicine | |
| Office | HMRI Building W-4 John Hunter Hospital, HMRI Building, John Hunter Hospital Campus |
| URL: | www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/nick-higginbotham |
