School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences

The Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies

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Professor John Cairney – Centre Director

Professor John Cairney is Head of School at the UQ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences and the newly appointed director of the Centre. He brings to the role more than 20 years of experience in research leadership, having led in

internationally renowned research centres in both Canada and Australia. Professor Cairney assumes the leadership of the Centre from Honorary Associate Professor Ian Jobling, its founding director from (2000-2023) and current Patron.

Professor Cairney leads a multidisplinary team of researchers and educators who offer a range of expertise on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, including sports science and sports medicine, history and sociology, business and law, pedagogy, psychology and coaching, engineering, biomechanics, epidemiology and public health, and sports technology. 
Professor Cairney’s own expertise is as diverse as the centre itself. After initially completing a PhD in sociology, he is now a world-leader in paediatric exercise medicine and is engaged in with multiple dimensions of sport, exercise and health research, including public health, athlete development pathways, athlete mental health and well-being, youth sport participation, sport diplomacy, and sport history.

Dr Stephen Townsend – Research Fellow

Dr Stephen Townsend

Dr Stephen Townsend is a historian whose research focuses on the social and cultural aspects of sport and health. Stephen is engaged in several research projects with The Centre, in particular the development of the UQ Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame. He is also an expert on the history of brain trauma in sport, race and racism in sport, and the digital humanities.

Dr Veronique Richard  – Research Fellow

Dr Veronique Richard

Dr. Veronique Richard is an esteemed expert in mental performance, with a focus on using creative practices and designing creativity-supportive environments to enhance performance and well-being in athletes and performing artists. She served as a consultant to the Canadian Olympic Team (waterpolo & artistic swimming) to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics. She currently leads multiple research projects in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport, SASI netball, Tennis Australia, and professional sports. She also acts as a consultant with AusCycling and Squash Australia. Her work underscores the importance of innovative approaches in optimizing human potential across various domains.

Associate Professor Emma Beckman

Emma BeckmanAssociate Professor Emma Beckman is a Teaching and Research academic at the University of Queensland. Emma is passionate about engaging in research to improve the lives of people with a disability through sports, physical activity, and exercise. Following a master’s degree in Adapted physical activity, Emma completed her PhD in strength assessment for classification in Para Sport.

She is currently a co-investigator in the UQ IPC Classification Research Partnership, and an internationally accredited classifier in Para Athletics having classified at numerous world championships and two Paralympic Games. Her interests in Para Sport range from classification (evidence based and best practice, as well as intentional misrepresentation) to grassroots participation and talent identification to developing specialised para sport coaches and high performance pathways for all para athletes- but particularly those with high support needs

Emma is currently on secondment in a joint role with UQ, Paralympics Australia and the Queensland Academy of Sport

Professor Sean Tweedy

Sean TweedyIn 1984, Professor Tweedy graduated from the Bachelor of Human Movement Studies at UQ and began work at the Sporting Wheelies as the Coordinator of Australia's first community-based health and fitness facility for people with disabilities. Since then he has worked continuously in the field and has been at the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences since 1997.

He leads three community service programs at the school: ParaSTART, which provides performance focused sports training for people with high support needs who are eligible to compete in Para sport; the Adapted Physical Activity Program, a home and community-based physical activity promotion service for community dwelling people with disabilities; and Motor Active, which assists young children to acquire age-appropriate motor skills.

Each of these programs provides students with valuable experiential learning and is supported by an applied research program for continuous improvement. Sean has classified at 4 Paralympic games, wrote the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) position statement on classification, is Principal investigator for the UQ-IPC Classification Research and Development Centre and sits on the IPCs Classification Compliance and Oversight Committee.

Bjorn Galjaardt

Bjorn GaljaardtBjörn Galjaardt has a Bachelor in Education (HPE), completed a Masters in Sports Coaching at the University of Queensland and is a Queensland Academy of Sport scholarship holder. He is a PhD-candidate, researching the intersections of Olympic coaches’ learning and experiences from multiple Olympic cycles.

Galjaardt's aim is to create guidelines to best prepare coaches, projected to subsequently enhance athletes’ preparation, for their dream event. The PhD is focussed on learning in a pedagogical context, with the opportunity to support the coaching pathway towards the Brisbane 2032 Games. As a side note, Björn’s interest in Olympic studies and research is underpinned by his nomination and attendance of the postgraduate course at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece.

Steering Committee

Honorary Associate Professor Ian Jobling – Patron

Honorary Associate Professor Ian Jobling is an internationally renowned researcher and educator of Olympic and Paralympic histories, and a former Head of School at the UQ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences.

Dr Jobling founded the UQ Centre for Olympic Studies in the year 2000 to encourage and foster greater awareness and understanding about the Olympic Movement within The University of Queensland and the broader community. Although formally retired from academia, he remains an active researcher on Olympic and Paralympic matters. Dr Jobling’s academic achievements, his connections to the IOC and AOC, and his passion for the Olympic and Paralympic movements make him well suited to guide the UQ Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies as its inaugural patron.