Dr Kate Lycett from Deakin's SEED Lifespan has officially been named the 2024 Victorian Young Tall Poppy of the Year - marking the fourth year in a row a Deakin recipient has been honoured with this prestigious title.
Run by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS), the Tall Poppy Awards recognise excellence in research as well as enthusiasm for communicating science beyond the walls of the laboratory.
The Young Tall Poppy Awards are offered on a state-by-state basis to celebrate researchers across science, engineering and mathematics.
Dr Lycett's research aims to identify key measures of health and wellbeing to help collectively understand the state of the nation beyond traditional economic metrics, in turn driving evidence-based change. In addition, it uses place-based citizen science to drive individual behavioural change and policy change to create more sustainable and equitable communities.
Her research areas include children and young people, epidemiology, public health, wellbeing economies, subjective wellbeing, mental health, obesity, environmental justice, air pollution and societal progress.
'Making our research easily accessible to citizens and policy makers is essential to drive evidence-based decisions to build a more sustainable and equitable future. I am delighted to achieve the Tall Poppy, an award that celebrates science communication,' Dr Lycett said.
Dr Lycett is lead researcher for the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, a study that has been tracking the subjective wellbeing of Australians for close to 25 years. She is also the research lead on the Future Healthy Countdown 2030 and leads 'Breathe Melbourne', a pioneering Deakin-led collaboration with Dyson using citizen science to track inner-city air pollution at six primary schools.
She has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles in high-quality journals and her research teams have been awarded over $3 million in grant funding.
