Joseph Baker
is Associate Professor and Head of the Lifespan Health and Performance Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University, Canada. He has also held visiting researcher/professor positions in the Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, Victoria University and the Australian Institute of Sport in Australia, and the Institute of Sport Science at Westfälische Wilhelms–Universität Münster in Germany. His research considers the varying influences on optimal human development, ranging from issues affecting athlete development and skill acquisition to barriers and facilitators of successful aging. Joe is Past President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and the author/editor of five books, two journal special issues and more than 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.
Damian Farrow holds a joint appointment in Australia with Victoria University and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) as Professor of Skills Aquisition. Appointed as the inaugural AIS Skill Acquisition Specialist and Discipline Head of Psychology and Skill Acquisition, he was responsible for research and support of coaches seeking to develop the skills of Australian athletes, and he works with a wide range of national sporting organisation high-performance programmes. Damian’s research interests centre on understanding the factors critical to developing talent/sport expertise, with a specific focus on perceptual and decision-making skills and practice methodology. Damian has written over 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, six books, and made over 150 presentations at inter/national coaching and scientific conferences. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport and the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching and a member of sports science advisory panels for the Australian Football League, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, and Surfing Australia.
