PhD candidate
Email wrika923@student.otago.ac.nz
Kathryn is an NZAC (New Zealand Association of Counsellors) counsellor who specialises in rural mental health. She has bachelor's degrees in psychology, sociology, counselling, and a Master of Professional Practice degree in counselling which centred upon research on why young rural men tend to not seek help for mental health issues. She is also a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor and is on the Community Health Council for Te Whatu Ora Southern. Kathryn is well-known in the rural media for the many articles she has written about rural mental health and has been a public speaker on the topic on many occasions. She lives on a deer farm in Te Anau, Southland with her husband and daughter.
Research
Rural community connection, resilience, over-forestation
Katherine’s PhD will investigate the effects on personal wellbeing that are produced by belonging to formal and informal groups within small, remote rural communities. It will also look at factors that threaten the membership and existence of these groups, such as loss of productive farmland to pine forestry. It is intended that the findings of this research may be used to fortify funding and service applications to create and run community groups, and for potential policy change at government level around the conversion of productive farmland.
Supervisor
Associate Professor Caroline Orchiston (Centre for Sustainability)