Meet the Team

Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy (SCPHRP), University of Edinburgh

Our Outdoors is being led by SCPHRP within the University of Edinburgh. Our Outdoors is partially funded by the Medical Research Council who in the summer of 2017 selected the project as their citizen science project.

Professor Ruth Jepson

Project Lead

Professor Ruth Jepson is the Principle Investigator of Our Outdoors. As well as leading the project Ruth is supporting the development of the Our Outdoors survey. Ruth has over 20 years of Public Health research experience with expertise in evaluation research and survey development. Her current research interests are around promoting physical activity, particularly in the outdoor environment. She also likes cats, knitting and the sound of the sea.

Dr Yvonne Laird

Researcher

Yvonne is the lead in the project development. She received her PhD in Physical Activity for Health at the University of Edinburgh in 2016. Her PhD examined the role of social support on physical activity in adolescent girls. She holds a masters degree in Physical Activity for Health at the University of Strathclyde and an undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Heriot-Watt University.

Dr. Jessica Hafetz

Co-Investigator

Jess is the Co-Investigator on the project. She is an applied developmental psychologist by training with 15 years of experiencing designing and evaluating interventions to improve child and adolescent health and well-being, with a focus on reducing the incidence of transportation-related injuries. While outdoors, she enjoys running in the woods, resting in sunny spots, and listening to what the trees have to say.