Dr Jonathan Kingsley

Biography

Dr Jonathan Kingsley is a Senior Lecturer in Health Promotion. Prior to moving into academia Jonathan worked in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, government bodies, and NGO’s across Australia in public health and community development. Examples of these organisations include Oxfam Australia, VicHealth and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.

Jonathan views the natural environment as having the capacity to bridge health inequalities (the basis of his Honours, Masters, PhD and previous Visiting Academic position at Cambridge University). Dr Kingsley has published over 55 peer-reviewed papers (35 as first or last author) and received a number of grants to explore issues focused the health benefits of urban agriculture and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’ connection to Country. Publications on this topic have produced 2429 citations, including 1644 since 2019 (Google Scholar, January 2024). Over 15 government reports have cited Dr Kingsley’s research (Analysis and Policy Observation [APO], 2020). Dr Kingsley also has a YouTube channel focuses on the health benefits of gardening: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyybXl1o-mQPpwWOxPKAmUA 

Jonathan views himself as not only an academic but an activist winning environment community engagement awards (for example, from Parks Victoria and the International Association for Ecology and Health) and sitting on multiple steering committees related to Indigenous and environmental health. Having worked with culturally diverse Aboriginal communities for over 15 years, and, as a non-Indigenous person, Jonathan always attempts to listen to others to understand different worldviews, identify barriers and resolve issues in a respectful manner to cultivate trust and cooperation. 

TOP 7 LEAD AUTHOR PUBLICATIONS IN LAST 5 YEARS

1. Kingsley J et al. (2019) “You feel like you’re part of something bigger”: exploring motivations for community garden participation in Melbourne, Australia. BMC Public Health 19, 745. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7108-3
2. Kingsley J et al (2022) Experiences of gardening during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health & Place 76, 102854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102854
3. Kingsley J et al. (2020) “It’s about community”: Exploring social capital in community gardens across Melbourne, Australia. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 49, 126640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126640
4. Kingsley J et al. (2023) Pandemic gardening: A narrative review, vignettes and implications for future research. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 87, 128062/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128062
5. Fjaestad SL ... Kingsley J (2023) Associations of time spent gardening with mental wellbeing and life satisfaction in mid-to-late adulthood. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 87, 101993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.101993
6. Kingsley J et al. (2021) Urban agriculture as a nature-based solution to address socio-ecological challenges in Australian cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 60, 127059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127059
7. Kingsley J et al. (2021) Developing a framework identifying the outcomes, principles and enablers of ‘gathering places’: Perspectives from Aboriginal people in Victoria, Australia. Social Science & Medicine 283, 114217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114217

EXAMPLES OF GRANT SUCCESS

• Chief Investigator, Gaawaadhi Gadudha: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised implementation trial and evaluation of an Aboriginal cultural health and traditional healing program: $2,902,798 (2023-2027)
• Chief Investigator, Understanding how cultural resilience impacts Aboriginal health & quality of life (NHMRC, MRFF): $560,209 (2021-2023)
• Lead Investigator, Evaluation of Gathering Place Model in Victoria (Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS]): $97,645 (2015-2016)
• Lead Investigator, Healthy Parks, Healthy People – Aboriginal Wellbeing Project (Parks Victoria): $34,982 (2015-2016)
• Lead Investigator, Evaluation of the Aboriginal Gathering Places in the Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne (DHHS): $32,807 (2015-2016)