Mr William Anton Koon | UNSW Research

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Injury prevention, Natural hazards, Environmental epidemiology, Public health, Strategy, management and organisational behaviour not elsewhere classified

SEO tags

Injury Control

Natural Hazards in Coastal and Estuarine Environments

Environmental Health

Biography

I am a drowning prevention researcher and practitioner working at the intersection of public health, injury epidemiology, and emergency services. My work focuses on understanding and reducing drowning risk through data-driven research, policy development, and multisectoral collaboration. I bring a systems-level perspective to drowning prevention, grounded in extensive operational experience in beach safety and ocean lifeguarding, alongside...view more

Research Interests

Drowning prevention
Injury epidemiology
Beach safety and coastal hazards
Lifeguard systems and operations
Emergency services and response
Spatial analysis and GIS
Multisectoral partnership and collaboration
Research translation and implementation science
Public health strategy and planing

Current Roles

National Manager, Drowning Prevention Strategy, Royal Life Saving Australia
Adjunct Lecturer, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney
Research Fellow, Centre of Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University
Research and strategy consultant focused on select drowning data and lifeguard operations

My Qualifications

PhD, Geography, University of New South Wales (2024)
Master of Public Health, University of Washington (2017)
Graduate Certificate, Injury Prevention and Research, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (2017)

My Awards

Lighthouse Award, National Drowning Prevention Alliance (USA), 2026
Aquatics International Power Award, Aquatics International Magazine, 2024
Surgeon Admiral Frank Golden Research Award, The Lifesaving Foundation Ireland, 2023
Lake Macquarie City Council "Leading at All Levels" Award for co-development of a high school beach safety program, 2023
Doctoral Research Fellowship (Inaugural), Ben Carlson Memorial and scholarship Foundation, 2022
Community Lifesaver of the Year, National Drowning Prevention Alliance (USA), 2019
Martin Hedstrom Memorial scholarship Award, Lifeguards Without Borders, 2015
President's Volunteer Gold Service Award, President Barack Obama, The White House, 2014

My Research Activities

My research focuses on drowning epidemiology, coastal risk and hazards, and intervention design, with a particular interest in beach safety systems and lifeguard operations and multisectoral collaboration and strategy for drowning prevention. I use mixed methods approaches, combining statistical analysis with qualitative and co-design methods.

Key areas of contribution include:

Developing multisectoral co-designed strategies for drowning prevention including the Australian Water Safety Strategy and California Water Safety Strategy
Quantifying coastal drowning risk using linked datasets and exposure-based metrics
Evaluating lifeguard systems, practices, and effectiveness
Co-designing beach safety and education programs with practitioners and end users
Translating research into policy, strategy, and operational guidance

I prioritise applied research that directly informs decision-making and strengthens frontline prevention systems.

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