People_
Associate Professor Aaron Jenkins
Sydney Horizon Fellow (Senior Lecturer)
Sydney School of Public Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Sydney School of Public Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Details
Member of the Charles Perkins Centre
Dr Aaron Jenkins is Australia's leading Planetary Health scholar and has highly regarded scientific and technical expertise in fields at the nexus of environmental change and health, crosscutting development themes including integrated conservation and development, watershed management for health, nutrition and climate change mitigation, WASH and waterborne disease management, intersection of climate change, natural disaster, land and water management on health and sustainable fisheries. (2 books, 6 book chapters, 62 scientific journal publications, 41 technical reports, and 4 awards). This expertise stems from 28 years professional experience in international development working with international, regional agencies, governments, NGOs, donors, universities and communities in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Palau, Samoa, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, and USA.
- Ecological determinants of persistence and fate of waterborne or water-related pathogen reservoirs in Pacific Island wetland systems.
- Integrated governance of water, health and socio-ecological systems
- Integrated water quality and health surveillance for emergency recovery and response
- Contributions of biodiversity and natural spaces to mental and physical fitness, and cultural dimensions of health.
Nested Programs
- SAPPHIRE- The SAPPHIRE Program (Sydney Asia-Pacific Partnerships for Health Innovations and Resilient Ecosystems) aims to enhance public health systems across the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on Vietnam, Fiji, Cambodia, and Kiribati. The program’s vision is to be a trusted partner in developing resilient and equitable health systems, capable of adapting to the region’s evolving health needs. Through research and practical actions, SAPPHIRE seeks to integrate One/Planetary Health approaches, enhance disease detection and prevention, and strengthen institutional health response capacities by mid-2027.
- Pacific Partnership for Planetary Health- The Pacific Partnership for Planetary Health is designed to address public health challenges in the Pacific region through community-based, integrative approaches that leverage traditional knowledge and modern science. The program operates across Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands, focusing on enhancing watershed health, improving water quality, and integrating ecological and health data into policy processes. Its comprehensive strategy involves empowering local communities and organizations, optimizing data systems, and facilitating policy integration to promote sustainable health and environmental stewardship in the region.
- WISH– Watershed Interventions for Systems Health - (a component of SAPPHIRE and the Kiwa Initiative), focuses on delivering co-benefits for climate resilience, biodiversity, health, and well-being through nature-based solutions in Melanesian watersheds. Its goal is to implement integrated watershed management in Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea, improving both natural and built water and sanitation infrastructure while addressing multiple sustainable development goals. This program is serving as a model for managing systems health in the Pacific, employing strategic financing, decision-support tools, and knowledge sharing to replicate success across the region.
- Pacific Bioscapes- in the Solomon Islands, particularly within the Central Islands Province, focuses on integrating island and ocean management to enhance biodiversity, livelihoods, and well-being. This European Union-funded initiative, led by the Wildlife Conservation Society Solomon Islands under the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, emphasizes marine spatial planning, marine conservation, and holistic watershed management. The program involves extensive community engagement for water and sanitation safety planning, prioritizing nature-based solutions, and WASH interventions to promote sustainable environmental and health outcomes through 2026.
- Planetary Health Alliance (founding member)
- Eco-health International (Board member, founding member Oceania Chapter)
- Pacific Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Coalition (founding member)
- World Commission on Protected Areas (Oceania advisor)
- Ramsar Convention Scientific & Technical Panel (Oceania advisor)
- Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species Scientific Council (Fiji advisor)
- Species Survival Commission (Oceania co-chair Freshwater Specialist Group)
- Public Health Association of Australia
- National Association of Underwater Instructors
- National Wetlands Committee of Fiji (founding member)
- Protected Areas Committee of Fiji (founding member)
- Fiji Communicable Disease Committee (Fiji)
- National Drinking Water Quality Committee (Fiji)
- 2024 - Sydney Horizon Fellowship (Climate Change, Sustainability & Health)
- 2022 - Premier’s Science Award- Early Career Scientist of the Year - Finalist (Placed 2nd), Government of Western Australia
- 2022 - Vice Chancellor’s Award - Excellence in Research (ECR), Edith Cowan University
- 2011 - Wetlands International Award - Outstanding contributions to science and its application to wetlands conservation
(Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services) A set of studies on Typhoid Epidemiology and Prevention in Fiji – collaborating with Melbourne University, Murdoch Childrens' Research Institute, University of Otago, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and UNICEF | |
(UNICEF Pacific and WHO, Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services) Working on the design of integrated drinking water quality and health surveillance for emergency recovery and response |
Publications
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Book Chapters
- Godden, N., Chakma, T., Jenkins, A. (2023). Ecofeminist Participatory Action Research for Planetary Health. In Pranee Liamputtong (Eds.), Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health.., (pp. 703-726). Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. [More Information]
Journals
- Toribio, J., Lomata, K., Fullman, S., Jenkins, A., Borja, E., Arif, S., McKercher, J., Blake, D., Garcia, A., Whittington, R., Marais, B., et al (2023). Assessing risks for bovine and zoonotic tuberculosis through spatial analysis and a questionnaire survey in Fiji–A pilot study. Heliyon, 9(12), e22776. [More Information]
- Jenkins, A., Lancaster, A., Capon, A., Soapi, K., Fleming, L., Jupiter, S. (2023). Human health depends on thriving oceans. The Lancet, 402(10395), 9-11. [More Information]
- Wakwella, A., Wenger, A., Jenkins, A., Lamb, J., Kuempel, C., Claar, D., Corbin, C., Falinski, K., Rivera, A., Grantham, H., et al (2023). Integrated watershed management solutions for healthy coastal ecosystems and people. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures, 1(e27), 1-17. [More Information]
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Other
- Wenger, A., Evelyn, A., Thomas, J., Amaya, T., Corbin, C., Edmond, J., Falinski, K., Hill, J., Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., et al (2023), A guide for integrated conservation and sanitation programs and approaches - Online Book.
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2023
- Wenger, A., Evelyn, A., Thomas, J., Amaya, T., Corbin, C., Edmond, J., Falinski, K., Hill, J., Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., et al (2023), A guide for integrated conservation and sanitation programs and approaches - Online Book.
- Toribio, J., Lomata, K., Fullman, S., Jenkins, A., Borja, E., Arif, S., McKercher, J., Blake, D., Garcia, A., Whittington, R., Marais, B., et al (2023). Assessing risks for bovine and zoonotic tuberculosis through spatial analysis and a questionnaire survey in Fiji–A pilot study. Heliyon, 9(12), e22776. [More Information]
- Godden, N., Chakma, T., Jenkins, A. (2023). Ecofeminist Participatory Action Research for Planetary Health. In Pranee Liamputtong (Eds.), Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health.., (pp. 703-726). Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. [More Information]
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2022
- Davies, M., Duchêne, S., Valcanis, M., Jenkins, A., Jenney, A., Rosa, V., Hayes, A., Strobel, A., McIntyre, L., Lacey, J., et al (2022). Genomic epidemiology of Salmonella Typhi in Central Division, Fiji, 2012 to 2016. The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific, 24. [More Information]
- Nelson, S., Abimbola, F., Jenkins, A., Naivalu, K., Negin, J. (2022). Information sharing, collaboration, and decision-making during disease outbreaks: the experience of Fiji. Journal of Decision Systems, 31(1-Feb), 171-188. [More Information]
- Nelson, S., Thomas, J., Jenkins, A., Naivalu, K., Naivalulevu, T., Naivalulevu, V., Mailautoka, K., Anthony, S., Ravoka, M., Jupiter, S., Abimbola, F., Negin, J., et al (2022). Perceptions of drinking water access and quality in rural indigenous villages in Fiji. Water Practice and Technology, 17(3), 719-730. [More Information]
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2021
- Nelson, S., Drabarek, D., Jenkins, A., Negin, J., Abimbola, F. (2021). How community participation in water and sanitation interventions impacts human health, WASH infrastructure and service longevity in low-income and middle-income countries: A realist review. BMJ Open, 11(12), e053320. [More Information]
2020
- Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., Capon, A., Horwitz, P., Negin, J. (2020). Nested ecology and emergence in pandemics. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(8), e302-e303. [More Information]
2019
- McFarlane, R., Horwitz, P., Arabena, K., Capon, A., Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., Negin, J., Parkes, M., Saketa, S. (2019). Ecosystem services for human health in Oceania. Ecosystem Services, 39, 1-5. [More Information]
- Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., Jenney, A., Rosa, V., Naucukidi, A., Prasad, N., Vosaki, G., Mulholland, K., Strugnell, R., Kama, M., et al (2019). Environmental Foundations of Typhoid Fever in the Fijian Residential Setting. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 2407. [More Information]
- Brito, I., Gurry, T., Zhao, S., Huang, K., Young, S., Shea, T., Naisilisili, W., Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., Gevers, D., et al (2019). Transmission of human-associated microbiota along family and social networks. Nature Microbiology, 4, 964-971. [More Information]
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2018
- Prasad, N., Jenkins, A., Naucukidi, L., Rosa, V., Sahu-Khan, A., Kama, M., Jenkins, K., Jenney, A., Jack, S., Saha, D., et al (2018). Epidemiology and risk factors for typhoid fever in Central Division, Fiji, 2014–2017: A case-control study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 12(6), 1-14. [More Information]
- Jenkins, A., Horwitz, P., Arabena, K. (2018). My island home: Place-based integration of conservation and public health in Oceania. Environmental Conservation, 45(2), 125-136. [More Information]
- Buse, C., Oestreicher, J., Ellis, N., Patrick, R., Brisbois, B., Jenkins, A., McKellar, K., Kingsley, J., Gislason, M., Galway, L., et al (2018). Public health guide to field developments linking ecosystems, environments and health in the Anthropocene. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(5), 420-425. [More Information]
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2017
- Lin, H., Jupiter, S., Jenkins, A., Brown, C. (2017). Impact of anthropogenic disturbances on a diverse riverine fish assemblage in Fiji predicted by functional traits. Freshwater Biology, 62(8), 1422-1432. [More Information]
2016
- Copeland, L., Boseto, D., Jenkins, A. (2016). Freshwater ichthyofauna of the Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) Gateway in Viti Levu, Fiji. Pacific Conservation Biology, 22(3), 236-241. [More Information]
- Jenkins, A., Jupiter, S., Mueller, U., Jenney, A., Vosaki, G., Rosa, V., Naucukidi, A., Mulholland, K., Strugnell, R., et al (2016). Health at the Sub-catchment Scale: Typhoid and Its Environmental Determinants in Central Division, Fiji. EcoHealth, 13(4), 633-651. [More Information]
- Brito, I., Yilmaz, S., Huang, K., Xu, L., Jupiter, S., Jenkins, A., Naisilisili, W., Tamminen, M., Smillie, C., Wortman, J., et al (2016). Mobile genes in the human microbiome are structured from global to individual scales. AFCS Nature - Molecule Pages, 535(7612), 435-439. [More Information]
2015
- Kingsley, J., Patrick, R., Horwitz, P., Parkes, M., Jenkins, A., Massy, C., Henderson-Wilson, C., Arabena, K. (2015). Exploring ecosystems and health by shifting to a regional focus: perspectives from the Oceania EcoHealth chapter. Biochemical Journal, 12(10), 12706-12722. [More Information]
2014
- Jupiter, S., Jenkins, A., Long, W., Maxwell, S., Carruthers, T., Hodge, K., Govan, H., Tamelander, J., Watson, J. (2014). Principles for integrated island management in the tropical Pacific. Pacific Conservation Biology, 20(2), 193-205.
Selected Grants
2023
- Watershed Interventions for Systems Health (WISH): Delivering co-benefits for climate resilience, biodiversity, health, and well-being in Melanesian watersheds, Jenkins A, DVC Research/Sydney Horizon Fellowship
- Horizon Fellow Support Package, Jenkins A, Faculty of Medicine and Health/New Academic Staff Funding
2019
- Sediment Biofilm Ecology in High Typhoid Incidence Rivers, Jenkins A, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/Grand Challenges Explorations
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Further Grants
2023
- Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security – Partnerships for a Healthy Region: SAPPHIRE Partnership – Sydney Asia-Pacific Partnership for Health Innovation and Resilient Ecosystems
- Bloomberg Family Foundation – Bloomberg Ocean Initiative: Scaling-up and integrating Blue Health and Blue Foods to improve protections for climate-resilient reefs.
2021
- KIWA Initiative -Nature-based solutions for Climate Resilience - Delivering co-benefits for climate resilience, biodiversity, health, and well-being through nature-based solutions in Melanesian watersheds.
Recent Conference Presentations:
- November 2023 – Melbourne, Australia- Australia Awards Fellowships – Advancing climate, health, and equity outcomes through local participation in the Indo-Pacific - Climate change & infectious disease in Oceania: a nested systems perspective.
- September 2023 – Suva, Fiji – Pacific Urban Forum – Nested ecology for healthy urbanization.
- August 2023 – Suva, Fiji –Pacific One Health & AMR Symposium - Exploring the resistome in sediment-associated biofilms from rural Fijian watersheds: microbial ecology insights from the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji Project (WISH -Fiji).
- June 2023 - Perth, Australia - Ediths Roundtable -Response to “Social Meteorology and Participatory Art” in Chapter 5 of Janine Randerson’s “Weather as Medium: Toward a Meteorological Art.”
- May 2023 – Nairobi, Kenya – Second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health - Recognizing Nested Social-Ecological Systems for Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.
- February 2023 – Brisbane, Australia - WASH Futures - Advancing Systems Health approaches to achieve WASH and conservation goals.
- November 2022 – Capetown, South Africa - 8th Biennial EcoHealth Conference - The reciprocal requirements for undisciplined cross-sectoralism.
- November 2022 – Singapore - World One Health Congress - Transforming place-based management within watersheds in Fiji.
- October 2022 – Virtual - Australian Council for International Development National Conference - Watershed Interventions for System Health Fiji (WISH Fiji) – evidence of positive human and environmental impacts achieved via a community-led planetary health approach.
- October 2022 – Virtual - Melbourne Children's Global Health Forum - WISH Fiji - overview.
- October 2022 – Suva, Fiji - WISH-Fiji Stakeholder Meeting - WISH Fiji- background and results.
- September 2022 – Virtual - FNU-USYD-Monash-IPCHS Discussion - Tadra Vanua-WISH+ - Invited speaker
- August 2022 – Perth, Australia – Indo Pacific Centre for Health Security - Perth Roundtable - WISH Fiji Update and Future Plans - Invited speaker
- July 2022 – Virtual - Indo Pacific Centre for Health Security – Deep Dive on Community Engagement - WISH-Fiji approaches to Community Engagement - Invited speaker.
- July 2022 – Nadi, Fiji - SPC OneHealth/Planetary Health Meeting - Defining Planetary Health for the South Pacific Community - Invited speaker.
- June 2022 – St Malo, France - International Symposium Salmonella and Salmonellosis (I3S) - Field and laboratory insights into Salmonella Typhi persistence in the environment.
- April 2022 – French Polynesia - Blue Climate Summit - WISH-Fiji - Attended by proxy (Stacy Jupiter) - Invited but COVID+.
- April 2022 – Melbourne, Australia - Monash DVC-Research Bootcamp - Indo-Pacific Planetary Health - Invited speaker.
- April 2022 – Melbourne, Australia - Monash Sustainable Development Institute Seminar Series - Towards Tadra Vanua: Leading on Pacific, Public & Planetary Health Action Research - Invited speaker.
- March 2022 – Sydney, Australia - USYD School of Public Health Seminar Series - Towards Tadra Vanua: Leading on Pacific, Public & Planetary Health Action Research - Invited speaker.
- March 2022 – Perth, Australia - ECU School of Science Seminar Series - Towards Tadra Vanua: Leading on Pacific, Public & Planetary Health Action Research - Invited speaker.
- February 2022 – Virtual - Ocean Sciences Conference - Place-attachment must be considered when designing ocean management in the Pacific Islands - Invited contribution- presented by co-author (Stacy Jupiter).
- April 2017 – Kampala, Uganda - 10th International Conference on Typhoid and Invasive NTS Disease - From river to residence: inter-scalar environmental determinants of typhoid in Central Division, Fiji
- December 2016 – Melbourne, Australia - The 4th International One HealthCongress & The 6th Biennal Conference of the International Association for Ecology and Health - Rivers, residences & risky behaviours: a nested environmental approach to typhoid epidemiology inCentral Division, Fiji.
- May 2015 – Bali, Indonesia - 9th International Conference on Typhoid and Invasive NTS Disease – An interdisciplinary study of typhoid fever in Central Division Fiji.
- December 2014 – Suva, Fiji – Quarterly Meeting of the Pacific WASH Coalition - Environmental, socio-cultural, and behavioural determinants of typhoid fever in the Central Division, Republic of Fiji.
- November 2014 – Dunedin, New Zealand - Otago International Health Research Network (OIHRN) conference- ‘One Health in low resource areas: the interface between human, animal, and environmental health’ – awarded best oral presentation for PhD work.
- September 2014– Melbourne, Australia– World Parks Congress: session on"Linking animal, human and environmental health (one health)" - Investigating links between environmental change and waterborne bacterial disease in Fiji.
- August 2014 – Montreal, Canada - EcoHealth Biennial Conference - “Fijian floods, feces & fishes: exploring common determinants of typhoid resurgence & food fish decline in Pacific island river basins.” – awarded best oral presentation.
- December 2013 – Melbourne, Australia - University of Melbourne EcoHealth Symposium – Ecohealth in the Pacific: an oceanic island perspective
