Thomas Astell-Burt

Thomas Astell-Burt is a researcher and epidemiologist with a long-standing interest in the relationship between nature and human health, especially on the potential of green space to enrich environments for prevention of noncommunicable diseases like Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes mellitus. His research is located at the interface between population, wellbeing and environmental studies. He is a professor of Population Health and Environmental Data Science and the Founding Co-Director of the Population Wellbeing and Environment Research Lab (www.PowerLab.site). Along with researcher Xiaoqi Feng, Thomas co-authored an article in The Conversation on how, as city makers, we have been building for loneliness through “lonelygenic environments,” a term coined by the researchers. Thomas and Xiaoqi propose that quality urban green spaces may offer a solution to urban loneliness.

Wominjeka (Welcome). We acknowledge the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations as the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet. We pay our respects to the land, their ancestors and their elders—past, present and to the future.