Rate My Professor Caroline Shaw

Associate Professor Caroline Shaw is an epidemiologist and public health medicine specialist in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington campus. She holds the qualifications MBChB, MPH, PhD, and FNZCPHM. Her PhD in Public Health was awarded by the University of Otago in 2016, with a thesis titled 'Known unknowns: Evidence of health co-benefits of decarbonising the transport sector.' Following her doctoral studies, she served as Senior Lecturer from 2016 to 2021 before advancing to Associate Professor in 2021. Shaw contributes to teaching in postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, including PUBH 733 Environment and Health and ALM4 Public Health as part of the MBChB degree.

Shaw's research centres on the transport system as a key determinant of health and health equity, with a particular emphasis on how policies designed to mitigate climate change within the transport sector influence health outcomes. Her expertise encompasses public health and preventive medicine, transport and health intersections, climate change impacts on health, transport policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions, epidemiology, cycling promotion, and population-level physical activity. As Principal Investigator for the research group 'Seeking the transport sweet spot: health, equity and zero carbon,' she investigates active transport initiatives, e-bike programmes, commercial influences on transport policy, and socioeconomic factors in emissions and travel inequities. Key publications include 'Health benefits of the HIKO e-bike programme: a qualitative study' (Osborne, Davies, & Shaw, 2026, New Zealand Medical Journal), 'Commercial influences on healthy transport: Interest group engagement with transport ministers in Aotearoa/New Zealand 2017-2022' (Shaw, Gage, Miller, Cullerton, & Macmillan, 2026, Health Promotion Journal of Australia), 'Rapidly reducing oil reliance: Quick wins in active transport' (Osborne, Miller, Randal, & Shaw, 2026, The Briefing), 'Fun, confidence and better health: Inside a year on an e-bike' (Osborne, Davies, & Shaw, 2026, The Briefing), and 'Local elections and public health: A critical connection' (Broadbent et al., 2025, The Briefing). Her scholarship advances understanding of health co-benefits from sustainable transport transitions.