Lisette ‘s research draws on poststructural theoretical tools and insights from the sociology of education, sociology of youth, curriculum studies and cultural studies to explore the place and meaning of physical culture and health in young people’s lives. She is also interested in the ways health imperatives expressed at policy and government level are taken up and responded to in community contexts. She has published work on gender, ethnicity and disability in school-based physical education and young New Zealanders constructions of health and fitness. Her current research focuses on critical interrogations of obesity discourse and understanding the impact new health imperatives have on young people's sense of their bodies and 'selves'. She is also researching the ways families are drawn into health enhancing projects both in public health and school-based pedagogies.

Lisette’s work has been funded by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, University of Otago, Australian Research Council, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, Social Science and Humanities Research Council and Fulbright New Zealand.