People
School Conditions Lab was founded and is led by Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman. The people below contribute to named projects or publications, with their roles and institutional affiliations identified alongside their work.
Founder and Research Lead
School of Education, Charles Sturt University
Brendon examines how play, movement, climate, school environments, supervision and everyday routines shape children's and teachers' wellbeing, belonging and learning. He founded the Lab to bring this established program into a coherent, outward-facing platform.
The CSU research record lists 196 outputs as at 2 October 2026, including scholarly and public-facing articles, books, chapters, reports and conference contributions. Approximate Conversation readership is reported in the CSU staff profile as at September 2026. Media appearances across radio, print and television are recorded in Brendon's career record to August 2025.
View founder and research lead profileProject pathways
Each project page identifies its active team, contribution and institutional affiliations without implying a single employer or formal organisational membership.
A national school study examining the conditions surrounding play.
02An active program connecting exposure, school infrastructure, guidance and local enactment.
03An international field-building initiative centred on a Springer volume co-edited with Dr Vaughan Cruickshank.
People directory
Each person’s contribution is identified here and on the relevant project page.
Co-investigator, Play Latitude and Heat-Safe Schools
Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Charles Sturt University
Shukla’s research spans STEAM education, cultural-historical theory, inclusive and play-based pedagogy, and digital video observation across early childhood, primary and higher education. She brings child rights, holistic development and culturally responsive play perspectives to both programs.
Research profile
Research Assistant, Play Latitude
PhD Candidate, Charles Sturt University
Sara is an educational leader and researcher working across inclusive education, teacher wellbeing and sustainable leadership. Her doctoral research examines how leadership and organisational systems can better support neurodivergent teachers in primary schools. She supports Play Latitude’s system approvals, recruitment and translation.
Professional profile
Practitioner Collaborator, Play Latitude
Adjunct Research Associate, School of Education, Charles Sturt University
Lucy is an Adjunct Research Associate and accomplished primary teacher with 15 years of classroom and school-based experience. Her applied scholarship connects student wellbeing, behaviour support, recess risk and the realities of outdoor school life. She co-authored the accepted national policy analysis Reading Play Between the Lines and contributes practitioner insight to Play Latitude.
Selected publication
Co-investigator, Heat-Safe Schools
Associate Head (Courses), School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences, Charles Sturt University
Melissa is an exercise and sport scientist whose research examines exercise, sleep, performance, thermal stress, recovery and adaptation across adolescents, athletes, shift workers and people living with chronic conditions. She brings human physiology and heat-health expertise to Heat-Safe Schools.
Research profile
Co-investigator, Heat-Safe Schools
Charles Sturt University
Holly’s research spans regional communities, First Nations issues, place-based methodologies and Indigenist climate-aware framing. She strengthens the program’s attention to non-metropolitan contexts and helps ensure research development is responsive to community and place.
Research profileCo-investigator, Heat-Safe Schools
Senior Research Fellow, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University
Subash is a rural public-health epidemiologist researching how environmental, social and interpersonal adversities shape health across the life course, particularly for young people in rural and remote settings. His expertise spans social epidemiology, data linkage, mixed-methods implementation research and climate-related mental health.
Research profile
Research Assistant, Heat-Safe Schools
Researcher and educator
Kirstie researches adolescent mental health, wellbeing and supportive educational environments. Her doctoral research examined the accuracy of parent and teacher appraisals of adolescent wellbeing and the factors influencing those judgements. She contributes evidence synthesis and school-community insight to Heat-Safe Schools.
Professional profile
Doctoral Researcher, Sun Protection in Secondary Schools
Associate Lecturer and PhD Candidate, Charles Sturt University
Simon brings more than 25 years of experience in health and physical education, curriculum design and educational leadership. His doctoral research examines contemporary approaches to sun-protection education in secondary schools across curriculum, peer influence, staff practice, outdoor environments and policy.
Professional profile
Co-editor, Beyond the Core Business of Schools
Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania
Vaughan is a teacher educator and researcher whose work spans health and physical education, health literacy, teacher education and lifelong participation in physical activity. He co-edits Beyond the Core Business of Schools with Brendon Hyndman.
University profileConnected doctoral research
Doctoral enquiries are welcome on how school environments, organisational decisions and everyday practices shape participation, health and belonging. Begin with a question you want to investigate and why it matters in your context.
Primary schools · Neuroinclusion · Organisational conditions
Sara Drebber's doctoral research examines how leadership and organisational systems can better support neurodivergent teachers in primary schools.
Secondary schools · Sun protection · Health education
Simon Board's doctoral research examines how curriculum, peer influence, staff practice, outdoor environments and policy shape sun protection in secondary schools.