Rate My Professor Kimberley O'Sullivan

Dr. Kimberley O’Sullivan is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, serving in the He Kāinga Oranga – Housing and Health Research Programme. She completed her PhD in 2013 and Master of Public Health at the University of Otago, joining the programme initially as a master’s student under the mentorship of Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman. Throughout her career, O’Sullivan has pioneered energy poverty research in Aotearoa New Zealand, focusing on the interplay between fuel poverty, energy use behaviours, housing and building energy efficiency, and their effects on health and wellbeing. Her expertise encompasses mixed methods, participatory, and qualitative research designs.

O’Sullivan’s early research investigated youth experiences of energy poverty, prepayment electricity metering, and thermal comfort in homes and schools. She has since expanded to vulnerable groups, including older Māori living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, public housing tenants experiencing summer indoor overheating, and shifts in household energy use during COVID-19 restrictions. Her current 2023 Rutherford Discovery Fellowship supports the ‘HOusing, energy, and MEntal health and wellbeing (HOME) Programme’, which examines mechanisms connecting housing quality, power costs, and mental health outcomes through interventions like the Winter Energy Payment and iwi-led projects. Notable publications include ‘Tackling cold housing and fuel poverty in New Zealand: A review of policies, research, and health impacts’ (Energy Policy, 2012), ‘Energy poverty in Canada: Prevalence, social and spatial perspectives’ (Energy Research & Social Science, 2021), ‘Housing Tenure and Subjective Wellbeing: The Importance of Public Housing’ (Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2024), ‘Heating up, cooling off: Exploring cooling behaviours at home in Aotearoa New Zealand’ (Energy Research & Social Science, 2025), and ‘Identifying summer energy poverty and public health risks in a temperate climate’ (Climate Risk Management, 2025). Awards encompass the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research, and a Marsden Fast-Start Grant. Her contributions influence policy via partnerships with the World Health Organization, International Energy Agency, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research.