Introduction for Communication in the sciences.

My name is Cameron Lamont and I am living in Germany. I am an extramural student at Massey University, studying Sport and Exercise. I would like to have studied more in the sport science programme, yet as an extramural this was not possible.

I am currently coaching Triathlon and the individual sports that are involved in triathlon. I am also a personal trainer. I am passionate about sport and ensuring athletes perform better, whether that is feeling better in their everyday lives, walking 5 km, or racing an Ironman or Ultra Marathon.

The decision for me to start studying again was a long process. I have always been an active person involved in sport. There were many changes in my life, and one of these was moving to Germany. Being here really started to show me that there is so much I can do in my chosen field. However, it became apparent that although I had, over the past twenty years, accumulated the practical knowledge and experience to work in the sports field, I didn't have the qualifications to back that knowledge up. At this point I put my time and energy to gain the qualifications to do the work I wanted. Part of this process was wanting to achieve a degree in Sport Science. This was not possible with distance learning which almost brought study to a halt. Discovering the Sport and Exercise programme opened the way to studying some sport science within that degree. Sport and Exercise has a strong focus on coaching and developing athletes which is what I am passionate about.

My ambition is to work my way to a place where I can influence as many athletes as possible in positive ways, seeing them as more than just muscles and results and helping them become better and more rounded people. Just where this will ultimately be I am still working on. I currently work as a coach and personal trainer for individual athletes as well as working with two triathlon clubs in Germany. I am currently waiting for my working visa for Switzerland to be finalised as I have been offered the head coaching position for a large Swiss triathlon club and team. I believe that my future lies in this direction.

My reason for taking this course is clear to me. I believe that the message of science is not working as well as it should, and misinformation abounds. I am a sceptic and am amazed about the speed with which misinformation and pseudo-science is spread compared with how slowly scientific information is spread. I am in awe of the work of people like Steve Novella from the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and Mark Crislip from Society for Science-based Medicine, who I believe are fantastic science communicators. I would like to learn to add my voice to theirs in my field of expertise, Sport. It is important to me to communicate knowledge of what science in sport really is, the bias endemic in science and advertising emanating from companies who produce sports products, and how that can affect the results. I believe the true results of sound, replicable science need to be seen and understood.

I believe I am developing a deeper understanding of the science behind sport, and also the ability to find, read and understand current sport science. I am able to look though the dubious claims of products and find the truth or lack of it.

My greatest weakness has been my literary skills. I should have worked on my writing ability a lot earlier in my life rather than when I returned to university. Added to this that I now work mainly in German and I must also work on my quality of spoken and written German. Working on these language factors will make me a better and more effective communicator in the sciences.

Regards,

Cameron.