Eric J Crighton

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Eric Crighton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography since 2006. He is also the Director of the CFI funded Health and Environment Analysis Laboratory (HEALab), a laboratory which houses state of the art computers, audio-visual equipment, a secure server for data storage and the latest versions of qualitative and quantitative data analysis software including GIS where much of his research, and that of his graduate students, is conducted. Professor Crighton holds a Doctorate (2005) and Masters (2000) in Geography from McMaster University. His research focuses on the themes of environment and health, geographies of health and healthcare, child health, psychosocial health and environmental risk perception. His research is multidisciplinary in nature and involves the use of a wide range of research methods and data sources. He is currently leading a three year SSHRC funded project examining how new mothers perceive and negotiate environmental health risks across socioeconomic, geographic and environmental contexts. He has published numerous articles and papers on pneumonia and influenza, and asthma outcomes and their relationship to environmental, socioeconomic, and healthcare factors, based on research that employed spatial and temporal approaches to study patterns of respiratory disease and other conditions and their potential determinants. He has a strong interest in Aboriginal and Métis Health. In recent years, he has been involved in projects with the Métis Nation of Ontario studying chronic respiratory diseases, the Assembly of First Nations analyzing the First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS), and with Indian and Northern Affairs examining the relationship between asthma and socioeconomic and geographic factors.

Research Description

Dr. Crighton is a Full Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Director of the Health and Environment Analysis Lab (HEALab). Dr. Crighton’s research is broadly focused on better understanding environmental and geographic relationships to human health, and in particular children’s health. Specific areas of interest include: the effects of environmental risk perceptions on stress and behaviour; relationships between environmental and socioeconomic factors and disease; and, approaches to improving environmental health education.