Team

Professor Philip Morgan is Co-Deputy-Director of the Centre for Active Living and Learning at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research focuses on the design, evaluation and translation of targeted interventions to promote physical activity and healthy eating in men, fathers and children in school, community and workplace settings.

Along with the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered program, Professor Morgan has developed and tested a number of award winning community-based health education programs for men including Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids , Healthy Youngsters Healthy Dads, SHED-IT (Self-Help Exercise and Diet using Information Technology) and Workplace POWER (Preventing Obesity Without Eating like a Rabbit). From their roots in the Hunter, NSW, these internationally acclaimed programs are now being expanded worldwide following incredible demand from the global academic community, as well as from not-for-profit, government and corporate sectors.

Professor Morgan has published more than 300 academic papers and served as an invited expert on multiple government and non-government committees focusing on obesity, physical activity and physical education. His contributions to research, teaching and community service have been recognised with over 30 prestigious academic awards including the Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Award for Australasia and the Australian Award for University Teaching Excellence from the National Office for Learning & Teaching.

As a father of three daughters and coach of multiple junior girls basketball, touch football and soccer teams, Professor Morgan is very aware of the important role fathers play in their children’s lives. He is a strong male advocate for gender equity and enhancing the father-daughter bond and wellbeing through physical activity and sport.

Read about Professor Morgan and his research here

Assoc. Prof. Narelle Eather is the Program Convenor of the Bachelor of Teaching (Health and Physical Education) at the University of Newcastle. She completed her undergraduate degree in Human Movement and Health Education at the University of Sydney before obtaining her Masters of Education (Physical Education) through the University of New England and a PhD through the University of Newcastle.

The focus of Assoc. Prof. Eather's research is the promotion of physical activity, physical fitness and sports skills among children, youth and young adults, and with the development and evaluation of theoretically driven Health and Physical Education interventions in the school and community settings.

In addition to her academic achievements, Dr Eather is a current Australian OzTag representative, a former national league netball player and an inspiration to her two adolescent girls.

Read about Dr Eather and her research here

Dr. Young is a lecturer and men’s health researcher in the University of Newcastle’s School of Psychology. His research primarily focuses on men’s physical and mental health and how ‘gender-tailored’ programs can increase the participation of men in health research. 

He was awarded his PhD in 2015, following completion of a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons 1A) at the University of Newcastle in 2009. To date, he has published over 50 peer-reviewed research papers and has won 21 research awards (including six as part of a team) and two teaching awards. In 2019, Myles was selected as the national winner of the BUPA Foundation 'Emerging Health Researcher of the Year'.

Dr Young looks forward to sharing his love of soccer with his sons and teaching them how they can contribute to a world where boys and girls have equal opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity through life.

Read about Dr Young and his research here

Dr. Barnes completed a PhD at the University of Newcastle in 2015, focused on improving the physical activity levels of mothers and their daughters through an after-school program - M.A.D.E (Mothers And Daughters Exercising) 4 Life.

Prior to her postgraduate studies, Dr. Barnes completed a Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor of Health & Physical Education at the University of Newcastle (2008) and taught in high schools and as a Kindergarten - Year 6 Health and Physical Education specialist.

Dr Barnes is grateful of the opportunity to take a major role nurturing and empowering her three daughters to an active life of positivity, health and well-being.

Read about Dr Barnes and her research here

Dr Emma Pollock completed her ‘Bachelor of Teaching’ and ‘Bachelor of Health and Physical Education’ in 2009 and completed her PhD (Education) at the University of Newcastle in 2022. Emma’s thesis was titled More than just a physical activity program: A mixed-methods evaluation of the broader impact of the Dads and Daughters Exercising and Empowered (DADEE) program.

Since 2012, Emma has worked on numerous school and community-based interventions led by Prof. Philip Morgan, Prof. David Lubans, and Dr Nicole Nathan to improve the health behaviours of children and adolescents. Projects include: Daughters & Dads Active & Empowered, Healthy Dads Healthy Kids, Resistance Training for Teens, Supporting Children's Outcomes using Rewards, Exercise and Skills (SCORES), Physically Active Children in Education (PACE), and Active WeAR Everyday (AWARE).

Emma has taught as a PDHPE teacher in local secondary schools and has been a Casual Academic in Health and Physical Education at the University of Newcastle since 2013.

Outside of work, Emma is a representative tennis player and experienced tennis coach.  

Dr Anna Rayward has a Bachelor of Medicine and a PhD (Behavioural Science), both from the University of Newcastle, and is a post-doctoral researcher in the Centre for Active Living and Learning at the University of Newcastle. Her research interests include targeting lifestyle behaviours, such as physical activity, sleep and diet, to prevent the development of chronic diseases and improve overall well-being.

Anna joined the Daughters & Dads team in late 2019 and has worked across a variety of research and stake-holder engagement roles to ensure the successful scale-up of the Daughters and Dads programs across NSW and beyond. Anna is a chief-investigator on the project researching the long term impacts of the program.

Anna is a fan of the outdoors and long distance running and loves spending quality time with her three children.

Dr. Ashton is a post-doctoral researcher in the Centre for Active Living and Learning within the School of Education at the University of Newcastle. He was awarded his PhD in 2017, following completion of a MSc in Nutrition Epidemiology (Leeds University, UK) and BSc in Sport & Exercise Science (Leeds Beckett University, UK). Dr Ashton has been a part of the D&D team since January 2021 and his research focuses on evaluating health programs to reduce chronic disease risk factors and optimise eating habits, activity levels, mental health and weight management and then translation of this evidence to practice. 

Outside of work, Dr Ashton is a lover of football and Manchester United. He is a proud father to Artie & Olive and he looks forward to sharing the concepts from the Daughters and Dads program to help them be Active and Empowered for life! 

Kristen has been engaged in Prof. Morgan's team as a Project manager/Senior Research assistant since 2008, working on Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids; SHED-IT and Workplace POWER weight loss programs for men; and now Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered. A 'Jill of all trades', Kristen assists with the multitude of tasks behind the scenes which help make Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered such a success.

Outside of work, Kristen loves to run, bike ride and play sports with her family and role model the values learnt from the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered experience to her 3 children.

Stevie-Lee has been working with the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered team since completing her Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Health and Physical Education at the University of Newcastle in 2016. She has also taught in local high schools. 

Stevie-Lee has delivered the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered program as a Daughters facilitator since 2016 and is a key Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered team member, assisting behind the scenes on a multitude of tasks to keep the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered project running seamlessly. 

Ros completed her Bachelor of Physiotherapy at the University of Newcastle in 2007. She went on to work for several years as a clinical physiotherapist in both hospital and community settings across NSW and in the UK. Ros has an interest in public health and decided to pursue further study in this field, graduating with a Masters of Public Health from the University of NSW in 2017.

Ros joined the Daughters & Dads team in 2018 and has enjoyed being part of an inspiring and empowering program making a real difference to the lives of those in the community.

Bree has worked in research since 2018 and joined the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered team in 2019 where she is currently a Project Officer.

Bree was awarded a Bachelor of Nutrition & Dietetics (Hons Class 1) at the University of Newcastle in 2019. She is an experienced Accredited Practising Dietitian, having worked in a number of medical centres and private practices in the Newcastle/Hunter/Central Coast area.

Bree is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of the community and enjoys applying this enthusiasm in her current role.

Dan completed his Master of Teaching (Primary) through the University of Newcastle in 2021, receiving a College Academic Medal. During this degree, Dan developed an increasing interest in education research, participating in a research internship with Dr. Narelle Eather.

Dan joined the Daughters & Dads team shortly after graduating. Prior to this, Dan worked in a variety of roles in both school community settings that focused on the social-emotional wellbeing of young people.

Dan brings a passion for equity and social justice.