Fellowship accolade for Northumbria scientist

Dr Glyn Howatson, Reader, Lab Director and Associate Director of Sport Exercise and Wellbeing Research Centre in the School of Life Sciences, has been awarded a Fellowship of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES).

BASES is the national professional body for sport and exercise sciences in the UK. The prestigious Fellowship accolade is given in recognition of esteemed professional achievement, skills, knowledge and service to BASES and the sport and exercise science community and denotes the recipient’s passion and commitment to the field. BASES Fellows are demonstrable leaders and ambassadors for the Association.

Dr Howatson joins a select group of 76 individuals that have been granted Fellowship since the Association’s inception in 1984. The award has been granted for his continued work in BASES and the wider sport and exercise science community through research and scientific support activity that has made meaningful contributions to populations within and beyond the athlete domain.

Dr Howatson has an extensive record of research and scientific support that has contributed to the UK research profile of exercise scientists on a world-wide stage and, perhaps more importantly in this Olympic year, has supported medal winning Olympic athletes and professional sports teams. He currently assists the English Institute of Sport in optimising elite athlete preparation for competition.

He said: “I’m in a very fortunate position to be able to make a contribution to the hard work that athletes, coaches and support staff put in to improving performance. At this level of competition, fractions of a percent can be the critical difference between medal success and defeat.

“The work we do aims to provide those ‘inches’ that can help our athletes make a small, but nonetheless, meaningful difference.”

Since joining Northumbria University’s School of Life Sciences in 2009, Dr Howatson has been involved in several key studies. The principle themes for his research have centred on the body’s responses to strenuous exercise and methods to optimise recovery and adaptation.

Northumbria University has developed an impressive national and international reputation for sport and exercise science in both the professional and academic sectors for its high quality teaching, research and knowledge exchange activities. Through his work at the University and extensive collaborations with organisations like the English Institute of Sport and BASES, Dr Howatson has become a highly respected sports and exercise scientist.

Dr Howatson said: “The work we do in the laboratory is very applied in nature and translates extremely well to the elite athlete and ultimately provides meaningful information to facilitate the management of better training regimes, improving athlete health and, of course, the likelihood of optimum performance in competition. Interestingly, a good ideal of our work has application for clinical populations too, such as the management of oxidative stress and inflammation.

“Northumbria’s investment into the sport and exercise sciences has been substantial. My continued contributions to BASES and the sector are made possible by this investment by the university and the hard work of my colleagues in the departmental team, whose contributions cannot be underestimated.”

Professor Alan St Clair Gibson, Director of Research for the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, said: “The attainment of a BASES Fellowship Award is the pinnacle of achievement for a Sport Scientist in the United Kingdom. The recognition of Glyn’s exceptional research and consultancy work in the sport and exercise field by this award is just reward for his work ethic and academic success.

“We are fortunate at Northumbria University to have an academic of Glyn’s stature working with us, and this award will impact beneficially on the status and awareness of Northumbria University’s sport and exercise focused work.”