Hinckson undertook a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and cell biology at the
University of California San Diego, and then studied
exercise physiology with a
Master of Science from the University of Oregon and a
PhD titled
Effect of simulated altitude exposure on sea level performance at the Auckland University of Technology. before moving to AUT in 2004, rising to full professor in 2017. As of 2024 she is Head of the School of Sport and Recreation at AUT. Hinckson's background in exercise science has led her to a greater interest in public health, and how physical activity and sedentary behaviour are influenced by the built environment. Her approaches include evidence-based citizen science and community-based participatory research, and she is interested in issues such as children's active travel to school, how physical activity varies with life stage and built environment, and
health equity. Hinckson leads a project within an $8 million
MBIE-funded project called
Te Hotonga Hapori – Connecting Communities, where researchers are working with
Kāinga Ora to investigate how the built environment itself, and being part of a community redevelopment, affects people's wellbeing. Hinckson co-chaired the steering committee for
the Lancet series on physical activity 2024, which found that
Auckland scored below average as a
sustainable city. == Selected works ==