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Contact Details

Phone
+64 3 364 3656
Email
rebecca.mclean@otago.ac.nz

University Links

Position
Associate Professor
Department
Department of Public Health (Christchurch)
Qualifications
PGDipArts MA PhD (Otago)
Research summary
Transport and mobility across the life course; driver licensing and road safety; ageing, accessibility and health.
Teaching
  • Postgraduate Public Health Programme: PUBH 744 Healthy Public Policy (Convener)
  • Advanced Learning in Medicine 5th year 'Youth Community Health' (Convener)
Memberships
  • Management Board, Collaboration of Ageing Research Excellence - Research Theme (2016–present)
  • Steering Committee, Transport Research Network (2020–present)
  • Co-Director, Transport, Society and Environment Group (2023–present)
  • Chair, Board of Studies for Postgraduate Education in Public Health (2022–2024)
  • Australasian College of Road Safety
    • Vice President (Finance and Administration) (2021–2023)
    • Co-Chair Finance, Risk and Audit Committee (2022–2023)
    • Governing Council (2019–2023)
    • NZ Chapter Co-Chair (2019 - 2023), Committee (2018–present)

Research

Rebecca is an Associate Professor and has a PhD in Public Health and MA in Psychology from the University of Otago, where she also held a Division of Health Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013-2015). She is a Co-Director of the Transport, Society and Environment Group and undertakes applied research at the intersection of population health, psychology and transport systems. Her work focuses on autonomy, mobility and wellbeing across the life course, examining how transport access and transitions – such as gaining or losing a driver’s licence - affect independence, social participation and quality of life.

Rebecca has an interest in intergenerational studies and has expertise in longitudinal and mixed-methods research. Her work has informed policy and programme development, nationally and internationally. She is the Principal Investigator on a programme of research funded through successive Health Research Council (HRC) grants, including the New Zealand Prospective Older Adult Transport and Health Study (NZPATHS), a longitudinal study of older drivers and their families. It examines psychosocial, health and behavioural aspects of driving self-regulation and cessation among older adults, as well as how families experience and support these mobility changes. She also co-leads Haumaru Panuku Oranga, a Kaupapa Māori qualitative study conducted in partnership with the National Hauora Coalition, which explores the transport and mobility experiences of kaumātua and whanau.

Rebecca has contributed to several national and international studies on youth, injury prevention and driver licensing. These include two prospective cohort studies of newly licensed drivers – the New Zealand Drivers Study and the DRIVE Study in Australia – which explore progression through the licensing system and factors associated with infringements and crash risk. She has also contributed to evaluations of youth driver licensing programmes and police-led diversion initiatives.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Several project opportunities exist. Contact for information.

Current and past student projects

  • Changing Gears: A longitudinal investigation of the predictors and impacts of driving cessation among older adults in New Zealand (N Beckert)
  • Transport as an environmental practice (C Harrison)
  • Experiences of nurses in New Zealand providing care during perinatal loss (A Roughton)
  • Reducing road offending behaviour using an integrated deterrence-based model (E Hassan)
  • A descriptive analysis of driving and transportation planning for rural and urban older drivers in New Zealand (C Sreng)
  • Driving to the conditions: Driver behaviour in youths (L Kettle)
  • A smartphone course for older adults: A way to improve digital literacy (J Lin)
  • Analysing media representation of bike lanes in New Zealand (F Grieve)

Current research projects

  • Principal Investigator, 'Whiria te tāngata: Out-of-home mobility of Māori and non-Māori over 65 (NZPATHS).' (2022–2026, funded by HRC)
  • Co-investigator, 'Exploring the role of concessionary fares for public transport in improving wellbeing and equity.' (2024–2025, funded by UO Research Grant)
  • Co-investigator, 'Travel injury and fatality rates by mode of transport: A systematic review.' (2024–2025, internal funding)

Selected past research projects

  • Principal Investigator, Predictors and impact of driving cessation on older adults and whānau/families (2018–2022, funded by HRC)
  • Associate Investigator, Young Adult Compliance (YAC) Project: The road to compliance: Integrating three theories to better understand provisional drivers’ compliance behaviour (2018 - 2021, funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award to Dr Lyndel Bates, Griffith University)
  • Associate Investigator, Young Driver DRIVE Cohort Re-linkage Project (2017–2021, funded by NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust, Australia)
  • Principal Investigator, Older drivers, families and GPs: Navigating the path between mobility and safety (2015–2018, funded by HRC)
  • Principal Investigator, Testing risk segmentation model for young drivers (2014, funded by New Zealand Transport Agency)
  • Co-investigator, New Zealand Drivers Study: A follow-up of newly licensed drivers (2005–2013, funded by HRC, ACC, Road Safety Trust)

Additional details

  • Awarded, 2022 HRC Project Grant 22/180
  • Awarded, 2018 HRC Project Grant 18/345
  • Awarded, 2015 HRC Project Grant 15/261
  • Awarded, Griffith Criminology Institute and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Visiting Scholars Award (2018)
  • Awarded a University of Otago Division of Health Sciences Career Development Programme Postdoctoral Fellowship (2013–2015)

Publications

Arrowsmith, K., McLean, R., Phillipson-Puna, T., Muliaumasealii, M., Leilua, S., Meher, M., Crengle, S., … and also New Zealand Prospective Older Adult Transport and Health Study (NZPATHS), including Connor, J., & Cameron, C. (2026). Mana Motuhake: Kaumātua Māori journey for transport equity in Aotearoa. (pp. 1-34). Dunedin, New Zealand: National Hauora Coalition and University of Otago. [Technical/Scientific Report]. Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report

McLean, R., Widyastuti, N., Connor, J., Shope, J., Taylor, J., Kerse, N., & Crengle, S. (2025). Prevalence of driving avoidance and self-regulation trajectories in a prospective cohort study of older drivers: NZPATHS. Proceedings of the New Zealand Association of Gerontology (NZAG) Conference: Ageing Together. (pp. 55). Retrieved from http://gerontology.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Arrowsmith, K., Brown, R., McLean, R., Phillipson-Puna, T., Muliaumasealii, M., Leilua, S., … Crengle, S. (2025). Mana Motuhake: Kaumātua and their pursuit of transport equity in Aotearoa. Assoc. Proceedings of the New Zealand Association of Gerontology (NZAG) Conference: Ageing Together. (pp. 35). Retrieved from http://gerontology.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

McLean, R., Connor, J., Widyastuti, N., & Samaranayaka, A. (2025). Planning for driving cessation: A cross-sectional study of community dwelling older drivers (NZPATHS). Journal of Transport & Health, 44, 102162. doi: 10.1016/j.jth.2025.102162 Journal - Research Article

Colhoun, S., McLean, R., Cameron, C., & Crengle, S. (2025). Transport practices of Māori Kaumātua (Indigenous elders) in Aotearoa New Zealand: Baseline findings from prospective older adults transport and health study (NZPATHS). BMC Public Health, 25, 2853. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24051-x Journal - Research Article

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