Emma is an early career researcher within the Centre for Sport Exercise and Life Sciences working within the theme of Physical Activity and Exercise interventions. Emma has 10 years’ experience researching within the field of Physical Activity, Exercise and Health, working with populations from young children to older adults across a range a disciplines. Her areas of expertise and research focus on the assessment of physical activity, examining barriers and facilitators to physical activity using mixed method approaches, and designing and implementing motor development and physical activity interventions. Emma has authored in excess of 35 papers and co-authored several books chapters in these fields. Some of this work has focused on special population such as obese, ethnic, young and deprived groups. Throughout her work, she has been the principal investigator and co-investigator on a range of funded projects from the British Heart Foundation, British Academy, Sport England, Badminton World Federation, Tanita and Erasmus plus. It is her vision to understand low levels of motor development and physical activity in special population and to use this knowledge to find innovative was to address this. Her current projects involve using movement and story based interventions to improve motor development, physical and health outcomes, assessing the dose-response effect of badminton shuttle time programme in primary schools.

 

Area of Expertise:

Physical activity, motor development, health and children

Exergaming; Sport science; Sport medicine; Exercise science; Body composition; Physical activity; Exercise physiology; School interventions; Exercise intervention; Environmental influences; Ethnicity and socioeconomic disparities; Socio – economic and environmental influences on health behaviours.; Ethnic differences in body adiposity, physical activity, fitness and HRV.; Paediatric exercise physiology – physical activity and fitness in prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic health.

My research is inspired to understand the ways in which physical activity and exercise affect health in children. In my research I aim to provide understanding of low levels of physical activity in deprived, ethnic and obese populations. Specifically, it is my vision to use this knowledge to find innovative ways to address low adherence to physical activity in order to improve health.