Wallace Coffee Talks - 20 August 2019

Wallace Coffee Talks - Summer 2019 

20 August - 12pm - Zoology Museum

Mark White (Swansea University, UK)

Ground reaction force patterns in human vertical jumping

What can be learned from human movement that may be applicable to the study of animal movement patterns? I would like to share some of the new techniques that are being developed in the field of human biomechanics that may be applicable to the study of animal movement patterns. Sports biomechanics focuses on maximising human performance. In professional team sports, such as football and rugby, players’ fitness and training development are monitored on a regular basis. One of the most important tests is the standing vertical jump, a countermovement jump, since jump height and peak power output are so well correlated with other athletic tests, such as sprints. The ground reaction force provides an excellent recording of how the jump is executed. Traditionally, scientists have focused on discrete points on the curve but recently interest has turned to the patterns and shape of the curve itself. Using functional principal component analysis and regression models I will show the critical importance for performance of a final peak in the ground reaction force immediately before take-off and how arm swing helps enhance it. I will share how understanding these patterns is the basis for my next step in research that will analysis patterns from accelerometer signals to re-create the ground reaction forces. This has the potential for accelerometers to replace expense force platforms for field-based testing.

968344@swansea.ac.uk

@runningmark

Tom Fairchild (Swansea University, UK)

The multiple dimensions of biodiversity – human interest relationships

Activities involving observation of wild organisms (e.g. wildlife watching, tidepooling) can provide recreational and learning opportunities, with biologically diverse animal assemblages expected to be more stimulating to humans. Here we explore whether having more animals in an ecosystem that we can view really does drive more human interest, and if so what is it about more diverse communities that we find so interesting?

@Tom_Fairchild