Researcher Summary
Dr Kate Prendergast is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey, UK.
Her inter-disciplinary research centres on understanding children and young people’s health and wellbeing in diverse urban environments. She currently works on the CYCLES (Children and Youth in Cities, Lifestyles Evaluation and Sustainability) project, which explores young people's lives in seven diverse cities across the globe. Cities include Christchurch, Dhaka, New Delhi, Lambeth, Makhanda, Sao Paulo, and Yokohama. The study is coordinated by Prof Bronwyn Hayward of the University of Canterbury and Dr Kate Prendergast, for the University of Surrey's ESRC funded CUSP: Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity and involves partners from seven cities.
Kate's previous research work connects health, wellbeing, the built environment, active travel, physical activity, and nutrition. She was a lead researcher on the Sovereign Wellbeing Index; a longitudinal study investigating the wellbeing of 10,000 New Zealanders.
For her doctoral research, Kate integrated positive psychology and public health to explore an approach for promoting health and wellbeing beyond the absence of disease. Her research included quantitative studies, focus groups, and an intervention study.
