Associate Professor Courtenay Harris (PhD, MSc (OT), GDipEd, BAppScOT) is a teaching and research academic and Deputy Head of the School at the School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia.
Courtenay teaches in the areas of paediatrics, professional practice, injury management, has coordinated the School’s Allied Health Honours research program and works internationally to develop student clinical placements, research and education programs in Southeast Asia. Research primarily involves technology use for a range of consumers including children in school and home environments; tertiary students and academics use of technology to support their engagement in higher education; and technological solutions to enable people with disabilities engagement in occupation. Her specialist research area is child related ergonomics, and current projects investigate the impact of young people’s engagement with technology on areas such as musculoskeletal health, sleep, physical activity, academic performance, psycho-social wellbeing, fine-motor and visual motor skills development. Over the last 20 years, Courtenay has presented research internationally on the relationships between young people’s exposure to technology and their health and wellbeing. Our research publications have informed evidence-based guidelines and contributed to higher education text books relating to child ergonomics and technology use. Courtenay has been a review for WORK since 2012.