Rate My Professor Rebecca Patrick

Patrick's research focuses on the health impacts of climate change, including climate-related mental health interventions, sustainable healthcare, planetary health, and psychosocial impacts of extreme weather events. She leads initiatives using participatory, qualitative, and co-design methods for research, policy engagement, and capacity-building in climate and health assessment. In leadership roles, she has served as former President and Chair of the Australian Climate and Health Alliance, Co-Lead of the Planetary Health Alliance Oceania Regional Hub, and Co-Lead of the Climate and Public Health Education Network within the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australia. She has secured significant funding, including nearly $1 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council in 2025 for a project developing and scaling youth mental health interventions for climate distress, co-led with Orygen, and participation in the Wellcome Trust-funded PAVE-Health initiative. Key publications include 'Three Reasons Why Expecting "Recovery" in the Context of the Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change Is Problematic' (2023), 'Minding environment, minding workers: environmental workers\' mental health and wellbeing' (2022), 'Healthy Me, Healthy Planet: Evaluation of a pilot planetary health library program' (2024), 'Climate Change and Youth: Fast-Tracking Mental Health Solutions' (2025), and 'Vulnerability and psychosocial impacts of extreme weather events' (2025). Her contributions advance evidence-based responses to climate-health challenges.