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BSc, MSc, PhD
Research Fellow, HERIUFarnaz Pourzand image

Email farnaz.pourzand@otago.ac.nz

Research interests and activities

Farnaz is a Research Fellow in the Health Environment Infection Research Unit (HEIRU) and the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) Research Group at the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington.

In her role, Farnaz serves as a co-investigator on multiple research projects funded by the Health Research Council (HRC) and Te Niwha. Her research primarily focuses on the intricate relationships between climate change, land use, water resources, and health outcomes.

She is particularly interested in how environmental factors intersect with public health, aiming to uncover how changes in climate and water quality influence the spread of infectious diseases and the overall well-being of communities.

Additionally, Farnaz is actively involved in research on the current state of cancer treatment and exploring future pathways for improving cancer care for  Māori populations.

Farnaz was awarded her PhD in 2021 from the Victoria University of Wellington in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, titled “Effect of Drought and Climate on Agriculture in New Zealand”.

Farnaz' previous role was in the Economic Data and Analysis team in Ministry for Primary industries (MPI) as a senior policy analyst.

Before migrating to New Zealand, she worked as a lecturer for six years at Islamic Azad University of Shiraz and Payame-Nour University in Iran.

Publications

Pourzand, F., Kim, A. H. M., Chambers, T., Grout, L., Baker, M. G., & Hales, S. (2025). Examining campylobacteriosis disease notification rates: Association with water supply characteristics. Environmental Research, 271, 121064. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121064 Journal - Research Article

Pourzand, F. (2024). How spatial differences in climate affect agricultural land values in New Zealand. Weather, Climate & Society. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1175/WCAS-D-24-0042.1 Journal - Research Article

Pourzand, F., Hales, S., & Chambers, T. (2024). Associations between local 30-day averages of weather variables and notifications of Shiga toxin-producing E.coli in Aotearoa New Zealand 2010-2019. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE). doi: 10.1289/isee.2024.1704 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Pourzand, F., Prickett, M., Baker, M., & Hales, S. (2024). Clean ups are not enough: Government policy incoherent on climate change. The Briefing, (10 July). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/clean-ups-are-not-enough-government-policy-incoherent-climate-change Journal - Research Other

Huang, W., Yang, Z., Zhang, Y., Vogt, T., Armstrong, B., Yu, W., … Hales, S., Pourzand, F., … and MCC Collaborators. (2024). Tropical cyclone-specific mortality risks and the periods of concern: A multicountry time-series study. PLoS Medicine, 21(1), e1004341. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004341 Journal - Research Article

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