Clover Maitland

Dr. Clover Maitland serves as an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia. Her work significantly contributes to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to health and wellbeing. With an h-index of 13 and 576 citations, she has established herself as a prominent researcher in her field.

Dr. Maitland's research interests span across several interconnected domains focused on human behavior and environmental influences on health. Her primary expertise lies in physical activity research, particularly examining how environmental factors affect children's movement behaviors. She has made substantial contributions to understanding early childhood care and education environments, sedentary behavior patterns, and the relationship between home environments and physical activity. Her work extends to mental wellbeing research, especially regarding urban environments and apartment living during extraordinary circumstances like lockdowns.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on environmental influences on health behaviors, with particular attention to children's physical activity patterns in various settings. Her research often employs large-scale studies like the PLAYCE (Physical Activity and Liveability: Young Children's Environments) project, examining how factors like home environments, apartment living, and even pet ownership impact movement behaviors. Dr. Maitland frequently collaborates with interdisciplinary teams across public health, urban planning, and child development fields.

Dr. Maitland has secured significant research funding through multiple competitive grants, including five major projects with Healthway and other organizations. Her work 'Optimising Apartment Design Policy to Equitably Enhance Mental Health' (2019-2022) demonstrates her commitment to translating research into policy. She has also contributed to wellbeing indicator development for the City of Wanneroo and conducted extensive research on supportive childcare environments for physical activity in early childhood settings.

Her research has gained considerable attention in both academic and public spheres, with several publications picked up by numerous news outlets and shared widely on social media platforms. The 2024 publication on apartment residents' views of nature during lockdown was featured in 55 news outlets, while her PLAYCE study research reached 67 news outlets, demonstrating the public relevance of her work.