Associate Professor Kim Natasha Dirks

BSc, MSc(1st Hons), PhD

Head of Department

In: Epidemiology and Biostatistics » Population Health » Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences

Research | Current

Research interests

Environmental physics
Air pollution modelling
Air pollution exposure
Health-related quality of life
Urban green space
Environmental noise

Teaching | Current

Physics 160 – Physics for the Life Sciences (Medical Physics Component)
Audiol 715 – Physics and Acoustics for Audiology
Audiol 714 - Hearing Aids and Other Devices (Contributor)
Poplhlth 726 - Health Protection (Contributor)

Postgraduate supervision

PhD: Mehrdad Rafiepour- Public Health (with J. Salmond and A. Woodward)
MSc: Hannah Marley - Environmental Science (with J. Salmond)
MSc: Wilson Wu - Environmental Science (with J. Salmond)
MSc: Shymala Sidharth - Environmental Science (with J. Salmond)
MSc: Jiaqi Xu - Environmental Science (with J. Salmond)
MAud: Chrystal He - Audiology (with D. Welch)
MAud: Nadiia Shevchenko - Audiology (with D. Welch)

Distinctions/Honours

Sustained Excellence in Teaching - UoA
Butland Award of Sustained Excellence in Teaching - Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences - UoA

Responsibilities

Acting Deputy Head of School (July to December 2018)

Acting Head of Section (January to June 2018)

Editorial Board Member:

Hazardous Matters (New Journal 2018)
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
J- Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal
Open Atmospheric Science Journal
European Journal of Environment and Public Health

Institute of Directors - Future Directors Programme (MetService Board)

New Zealand Women in Leadership Programme - Steering Group Member

Healthy-Polis - Secretary

Areas of expertise

Air pollution

Environmental noise

Urban design

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries (CAI) - Staffing committee member

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Bauer, K., Bosker, T., Dirks, K. N., & Behrens, P. (2018). The impact of seating location on black carbon exposure in public transit buses: Implications for vulnerable groups. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 62, 577-583. 10.1016/j.trd.2018.04.009
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44974
Wang, J. Y. T., Dirks, K. N., Ehrgott, M., Pearce, J., & Cheung, A. K. L. (2018). Supporting healthy route choice for commuter cyclists: The trade-off between travel time and pollutant dose. Operations Research for Health Care10.1016/j.orhc.2018.04.001
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44975
Nichani, V., Dirks, K., Burns, B., Bird, A., & Grant, C. (2017). Green Space and Depression during Pregnancy: Results from the Growing Up in New Zealand Study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14 (9).10.3390/ijerph14091083
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/44268
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Cameron Grant, Bruce Burns, Susan Morton
Lim, S., Salmond, J. A., & Dirks, K. N. (2017). Changing geographies of children's air pollution exposure. Children's Health and Wellbeing in Urban Environments (pp. 59-71). 10.4324/9781315571560
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/43871
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jennifer Salmond
Nichani, V., Dirks, K., Burns, B., Bird, A., Morton, S., & Grant, C. (2017). Green space and pregnancy outcomes: Evidence from Growing Up in New Zealand. Health and Place, 46, 21-28. 10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.04.007
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/34593
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Bruce Burns, Susan Morton, Cameron Grant
Chen, J., Bullen, C., & Dirks, K. (2017). A comparative health risk assessment of electronic cigarettes and conventional cigarettes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14 (4)10.3390/ijerph14040382
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/35431
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Chris Bullen