Nancy Humpel

Nancy has a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons 1) and a PhD in Psychology (Health) completed at the University of Wollongong in 2003. Nancy’s background is in health behaviour change research, more specifically physical activity research: 1) the impact of the physical environment on physical activity; 2) physical activity for the prevention of illness in adults and to assist in the management of chronic illness. She has recently completed an ARC Discovery post-doctoral fellowship examining the impact of regular physical activity on physical and psychological health following a diagnosis of breast or prostate cancer.

Nancy became recognised as an international leader in the research field of the physical environment and its relationship with physical activity. This follows from her research and a journal article which was the most cited article for the year 2002 for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Nancy was also identified through the Thomson’s Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Emerging Research Fronts an author of the most highly-cited social science paper in the area of physical activity and the built environment.

Nancy’s current position with Faculty’s Ageing, Health, and Services is as Senior Research Associate on the ARC Linkage project Ageing Baby Boomers of Australia: Actions for Better Retirement.