Dr Caroline Jenkinson

Caroline has always been inspired by the connection between nature, health, and wellbeing. After a fourteen-year career in health services research, primarily within the Medical School and Psychology at the University of Exeter, she refocused her career to bring the environmental and nature-based aspects of health more strongly into her work. She joined the European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH) at the University of Exeter in June 2025 as the Trial Manager for GREENGAGE, a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) exploring how nature-based activities can support mental ill health. Alongside her GREENGAGE role, she recently joined the BlueAdapt team as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of recreational exposure to polluted open water and infection. Prior to joining the ECEHH, her work at the University of Surrey aimed to promote a more sustainable food system through the development and validation of a food citizenship scale and scoping review. Her PhD explored complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of rheumatic diseases with a focus on aromatherapy, and she has a degree in Food Science/Microbiology.

She has experience in delivering a wide range of projects including RCTs (GREENGAGE, CoBalT, TREAD), CTIMPs (TriMaster, MIR), systematic reviews (BlueAdapt, Cochrane - psychological interventions for coronary heart diseases, volunteering) and mixed methods.