Dr John Pickering

Chief behavioural sceintist & CO-FOUNDER

John Pickering, Ph.D. is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Evidn Group (Australia and USA). He is a behavioural scientist specialising in the analysis and modification of human behaviour at a population-level. John has expertise in systems-level thinking, behaviour change frameworks, psychological theories, and has extensive experience engaging with communities to create widespread change in the context of systemic challenges across health, agriculture, and the environment.

Dr Pickering holds numerous industry and academic positions. He is the Co-Chair of the Nature Sustainability Expert Panel on behavioural Science, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expert steering group on agri-environmental behavioural economics, and is a Director of the Queensland Government’s Health and Wellbeing Commission. In May 2020, he was appointed by the Deputy Premier of Queensland to the Health Reform Panel to advise the Queensland Government on statewide reform priorities emerging from COVID-19. He has concurrent appointments at The University of Queensland, Princeton University, and the Darden School of Business (University of Virginia).

John is Project Director of multiple Evidn projects across health, environment, and agriculture. John is currently Project Director of Evidn’s ‘Effective Care Through Behavioural Science’ project in partnership with Queensland Health. The project utilised Evidn’s Behavioural Systems Analysis to understand the factors influencing the provision of Low Value Care in Queensland medical facilities and has co-designed solutions to further drive the provision of High Value Care to benefit patients, staff, and the broader healthcare system.

John is also Project Director of one of Australia’s largest environmental behaviour change initiatives, Project Cane Changer, which contributed to a 509% increase in adoption of farming practices known to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef. Cane Changer was recently recognised as a top 10 example of how behavioural science is being applied to improve sustainability outcomes and is the proof of concept for Evidn’s approach to delivering behaviour change in complex settings such as healthcare. 

Prior to founding Evidn, Dr Pickering was Head of the Triple P Innovation Precinct, part of The University of Queensland’s signature Triple P Positive Parenting Program, which aimed to improve the psychological wellbeing of children and families – both nationally and internationally. He was also a member of The University of Queensland Senate, holds a PhD (with distinction), Bachelor’s degree in Psychological Science (with first class honours), and has published extensively in leading peer-reviewed journals and international media outlets.