Samuel Cornell

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• PhD Candidate in Public Health, School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney

Profile Articles Activity

I investigate how social media platforms and digital culture shape perceptions of risk and influence real-world behaviour. My work focuses on digital harm, influencer culture, and the limits of traditional public-health communication in fast-moving online environments.

I have submitted my PhD in Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW Sydney, where my research examines how social media encourages and amplifies risky behaviours with downstream health consequences. My work brings together public-health, clinical, and behavioural perspectives to understand why risk messaging so often fails online - and how it might be improved.

Before entering academia, I trained as a Mine Clearance Diver with the Royal Navy, giving me direct, lived experience of high-stakes operational risk, uncertainty, and decision-making under pressure. This background strongly informs my research interest in how people interpret danger, normalise risk, and act when incentives and social signals are misaligned.

I hold a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Physiological Science from the University of Bristol, with training in physiology, neuroscience, biochemistry and quantitative methods, and a Master of Science by Research from the University of South Wales, where I worked closely with clinicians and public-health practitioners to translate research into applied settings.

Outside academia, I remain engaged with real-world risk environments and am currently learning to fly recreationally, maintaining a practical interest in how humans manage risk, judgement, and safety across different domains.

My research and commentary have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and public outlets including The Conversation, ABC, and international media.

Experience

• –present PhD Candidate, UNSW Sydney

Education

• 2019 University of South Wales, Master of Science by Research
• 2017 University of Bristol, Bachelor of Science in Physiological Science (Hons)

Publications

• 2023 Preventing selfie-related incidents: Taking a public health approach to reduce unnecessary burden on emergency medicine services,
• 2023 Should land managers be doing more to avert social media-related injuries and fatalities at tourism hotspots?,
• 2023 Selfie-Related Incidents: Narrative Review and Media Content Analysis,
• 2023 'I actually thought that I was going to die': Lessons on the rip current hazard from survivor experiences,

Research Areas

• Public Health And Health Services (1117)

MENAFN04022026000199003603ID1110697547