Louise is the Course Leader for the BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences and BSc Sport, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences programmes. She is an Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist (Psychology) with the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES), a Chartered Scientist (CSci) with the Science Council, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Louise joined the University of Huddersfield as a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences in 2015.

With 29 years of experience in Higher Education, Louise brings over 25 years of applied practice in sport and exercise psychology, supporting a wide range of athletes and organisations. Her experience includes work with Liverpool Football Club, Wigan FC, professional golfers, Olympic athletes, and youth performers.

Louise’s research focuses on athletes’ experiences of choking under pressure, including the underlying theoretical mechanisms such as self-focus and distraction. Her work also explores the development of pressure-based training protocols in elite sport (e.g., penalty kick scenarios in professional football), alongside the use of biofeedback to manage stress and anxiety. She completed biofeedback certification training with STENS, endorsed by the American Psychological Association, in 2009.

Louise is also actively involved in national sustainability initiatives within the discipline. She is a member of the CASES Climate Action and Sustainability Advisory Group (CASAG), established in 2021 to examine the roles and responsibilities of sport and exercise scientists in response to climate change. Through this work, the group has supported CASES in signing up to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework and the Pledge to Net Zero, alongside contributing to wider strategic objectives. This work remains ongoing.

In addition to her academic and professional work, Louise has a strong personal background in sport. She is a former international hockey player, representing Wales at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Development Squad in the same year.

• Performance under pressure in elite and professional sport
• Interventions to reduce choking under pressure in elite and professional sport
• Design and implementation of pressure-based training protocols in elite and professional sport
• Case studies in sport psychology across elite and non-elite populations
• Application of biofeedback in sport psychology, focusing on enhancing athletes’ self-regulation of psychophysiological responses (e.g., heart rate, galvanic skin response, respiration) in both passive and active contexts
• Strategies for coping with stress, anxiety, and performance demands
• Athletes’ perceptions of, and responses to, climate change
• Research involving both elite and non-elite child athletes

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Last updated 4th June 2026