Tom Campbell
Tom Campbell

Dr Tom Campbell BSc(Hons), PhD, FHEA

Associate Professor

Biography

Dr Tom Campbell BSc (Hons), PhD, FHEA, is an Associate Professor in sport and exercise science and sustainability theme lead at the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland.

Tom gained a first-class degree in Sport and Exercise at Edinburgh Napier University before completing his PhD on the topic of Applied Ergonomics. Tom became a lecturer in 2015 and within a year of this post had developed the first fully online degree programme within the School of Applied Sciences. Drawing upon his expertise in psychophysiology and stress, Tom developed several modules to apply these principles in connecting the worlds of elite sport and business. During this period Tom developed an international profile within the area of dual careers and was personally invited to form part of a pan-European team of experts developing a novel education for elite athletes, funded by the Erasmus+ scheme. Tom also secured TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme) accreditation for the University and ENU remain the only Scottish University to hold this accreditation.

While Tom continues to lead the BA Business and Enterprise in Sport programme and to support dual career athletes, the focus of his applied work currently centres around supporting and promoting enterprise within the mountain biking sector. Embedded within the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland (MTBCOS), hosted by ENU, with a remit to provide consultancy and research to the cycling industry in Scotland and throughout the world. Tom has supported several new and established businesses to develop and launch new products and services within the cycling sector and has provided expert consultancy to Scottish Cycling and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland.

Tom holds the position of sustainability theme lead within MTBCOS and is recognised internationally as an expert on sustainable mountain bike trails [and education]. Tom acts as an expert member for both the International Mountain Bike Association and Cycle Industries Europe and has membership of the Scottish Bike Network. Tom successfully led the university’s involvement in the Erasmus+ funded DIRTT: Developing Intereuropean resources for trail builder training programme from 2019-2022, a project which has revolutionised the approach to educating and training trail builders across Europe. Drawing upon his expertise in applied research design Tom embedded robust research within the project and has produced both industry reports and academic outputs to inform and underpin the educational framework. The impact of this work was significant, leading to changes for practice and an increased professionalism within the sector.

Tom has been interviewed by or had his work promoted in numerous outlets including ITV news, Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh North, PinkBike, Peak District Mountain Bike Association, International Mountain Bike Association, Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, Heart of Midlothian Football club website.

Themes

News

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Professional Trail Builders Association Trail Competency Workgroup. Dr Tom Campbell was invited to offer expert insight into the assessment of competencies amongst mountain bike trail builders.
  • International Panel Expert on dual career skills development. - SCORES: Developing employability skills and competencies through sport in Europe. Amsterdam. October 2019.
  • Airbus: Expert Working Group on Health and Wellbeing of Air Travellers. Dr Tom Campbell provided expertise on psychophysiological assessment of wellbeing parameters related to the demands of air travel.
  • Royal Bank of Scotland: Workplace Wellness Group. Dr Tom Campbell provided expert evidence and advice regarding workplace wellbeing to RBOS employees.

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Higher Education Academy Fellow
  • Best Poster Presentation Edinburgh Napier Postgraduate Conference

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited Speaker - Sustainable Trails Conference. "Sustainable trails: the rider's perspective"
  • Keynote Speaker: Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance Research Seminar. "The Mountain Bike as a Vehicle for Innovation"
  • Invited Speaker - Britannia Sports and Exercise Science Academy. "The dual career athlete"
  • Invited Speaker - Professional Trail Builders Association, Bentonville USA - "Training needs of European Trail Builders"
  • Invited lecture - Hogeschool Van Amsterdam. "Psychosocial Stress in Sport"
  • Invited speaker - International Seminar for Dual Careers in Sport, Amsterdam. “Developing athletes through professional practice: enhancing athletes welfare and reducing stress”
  • Invited speaker - Stress and Anxiety Research Society (annual conference), Hong Kong. "A case study investigation or the autonomic and endocrine response to psychosocial demand in the workplace"
  • Invited Speakers. The Society for Psychophysiological Research (57th annual meeting), Vienna. Austria. "Anticipation and the cortisol awakening response within a dynamic psychosocial work environment"
  • Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance: Kick off conference. November 2016.Tom Campbell delivered a conference presentation on the topic of developing dual career athletes through a contextualized HE distance-learning programme. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Holland. 2016
  • Invited Speaker - International Athlete Services Forum, Singapore. Designing flexible learning for dual career athletes
  • Invited presentation at Stirling University Health Sciences and Sport Research Group
  • Presentation at The Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance Conference, Amsterdam.
  • Presentation at the QAA International Enhancement Themes Conference. Glasgow.

 

Media Activity

  • Sustainable trails - what we should be doing isn't always what we do! Online article. Peak District MTB
  • MTB Trends and the Challenges for MTB Advocacy. Online article. Peak District MTB
  • Online Article - What is Sustainability? International Mountain Bicycling Association, 10th March 2022
  • Cycling magazine: "European Study on Trail Sustainability Gives New Insight on Mountain Biker Motivations, Illegal Trail Use, & More," Pinkbike, 20th January 2022.
  • The Importance (and Challenges) of Working Together to Look After Mountain Bike Trails; Online article: Peak district MTB
  • Online article: What is sustainable trails? Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, 22nd December 2021
  • TV appearance: "Borderlands: How the Growth Deal could impact southern Scotland", ITV news, 18th March 2021
  • Mountain Bike Podcast: "Trails on Trial", Downtime Podcast, 21st December 2021
  • Online article: Hearts team up with Edinburgh Napier, Heart of Midlothian Football Club, 10th September 2020
  • Online article: MTB trail building sector is ready for further professionalisation, International Mountain Bike Association, 11th September 2020
  • Newspaper article: Hearts and Hibs youngsters sign up for Edinburgh Napier University course, Edinburgh Evening News, 10th September 2020
  • Newspaper article: Ice star Greg all set for a sporting life, North Edinburgh News, 6th November 2018.

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Public lecture at Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland, Glentress. Designing and implementing a European framework for sustainable trails.
  • Professional Trail Builders Workshop. Scottish Mountain Bike Conference.: Leading the way - Trails, Participation and Sport Development
  • UK MTB Trail Designer and Builders Network. Dr Tom Campbell was invited to engage the UK Trail Builders Network with the ongoing European DIRTT project. Tom provided an insight into the ongoing research that will underpin the project and delivered an interactive workshop session.
  • MTBCOS Schools outreach. Dr Tom Campbell visited Earlston and Gordon primary schools to talk about all of the opportunities that are available within mountain biking and the range of careers that exist within the industry. This also formed part of the annual schools competition where pupils were invited to create "the bike of the future".
  • MTBCOS Outreach - Priorsford Primary School. Dr Tom Campbell visited Priorsford Primary School to talk about all of the opportunities that are available within mountain biking and the range of careers that exist within the industry.
  • Academic Expertise: Tweedlove International Mountain Bike Festival. Dr Campbell has served as an academic expert at the Tweedlove International Mountain Bike festival from 2015. This involves the provision of expertise within the event village during events and outreach activity across a number of primary schools within the Scottish Borders.

 

Reviewing

  • European Journal of Applied Physiology
  • Cogent Psychology
  • Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
  • Sage publishing
  • Applied Ergonomics
  • British Journal of Nutrition
  • Journal for the Study of Sport and Athletes in Education
  • Cogent Medicine
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Journal of Science and Cycling
  • The International Journal of Workplace Health Management
  • Innovations and Teaching.
  • Journal of Further and Higher Education

 

Visiting Positions

  • Erasmus+ staff teaching mobility. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Dr Tom Campbell was awarded an Erasmus+ staff teaching mobility grant to teach on the sport psychology degree at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

 

Date


21 results

Sustainable mountain bike trails: towards a holistic approach

Book Chapter
Campbell, T. (2024)
Sustainable mountain bike trails: towards a holistic approach. In Mountain Biking, Culture and Society (125-140). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003361626-12
This chapter outlines current approaches towards creating and promoting more sustainable mountain bike trails, and orients these within contemporary theoretical conceptualisat...

Sustainable mountain bike trails: towards a holistic approach

Book Chapter
(2024)
Sustainable mountain bike trails: towards a holistic approach. In Mountain Biking, Culture and Society. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003361626-12
This chapter outlines current approaches towards creating and promoting more sustainable mountain bike trails, and orients these within contemporary theoretical conceptualisat...

Trail use, motivations and environmental attitudes of 3780 European mountain bikers: what is sustainable?

Journal Article
Campbell, T., Kirkwood, L., McLean, G., Torsius, M., & Florida-James, G. (2021)
Trail use, motivations and environmental attitudes of 3780 European mountain bikers: what is sustainable?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), Article 12971. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182412971
Background: The extent to which mountain biking impacts upon the environment is largely determined by rider behaviours. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understa...

The influence of training volume on training and match injury risk in elite Scottish rugby union players

Presentation / Conference
Paul, C., Campbell, T., Yule, S., Walsh, J., Martindale, R., & Palmer, D. (2021, November)
The influence of training volume on training and match injury risk in elite Scottish rugby union players. Poster presented at IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport, Monaco
BACKGROUND Training volume has been shown to influence injury risk in elite Rugby Union players. OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of training volume on injury risk in el...

Trail Sector Stakeholder & Consumer Survey (DIRTT Project Report)

Report
Campbell, T., & Kirkwood, L. (2020)
Trail Sector Stakeholder & Consumer Survey (DIRTT Project Report). International Mountain Bike Association
The mountain bike trail user survey forms part of the "Developing Intereuropean Resources for Trail builder Training (DIRTT)" project, funded under the ERASMUS+ programme, whi...

Monitoring Training & Match Exposure in Elite Scottish Rugby Union

Presentation / Conference
Paul, C., Campbell, T., Yule, S., & Palmer, D. (2019, September)
Monitoring Training & Match Exposure in Elite Scottish Rugby Union. Poster presented at The Edinburgh Sport & Exercise Medicine Conference, Edinburgh
Background:Training and match exposure has been shown to influence injury risk in elite Rugby Union players. Objective: To show how different load-measures can be used to qua...

Rugby

Journal Article
Campbell, T. (2018)
Rugby. Ology: Reviews in Applied Sciences, 1(1), 4-5. https://doi.org/10.14297/ras.v1i1.2
Rugby the afterlife explores the transition from playing career to a life after the final whistle blows. The book, which is framed against a changing landscape as rugby entere...

A bedtime milk snack does not impact resting metabolic rate, substrate utilisation, and appetite the following morning in mildly overweight males

Journal Article
Lay, A., Crabtree, D., Campbell, T., Tipton, K., Dreczkowski, G., Galloway, S., & Witard, O. (2018)
A bedtime milk snack does not impact resting metabolic rate, substrate utilisation, and appetite the following morning in mildly overweight males. British Journal of Nutrition, 119(12), 1355-1365
Nighttime eating is often associated with a negative impact on weight management and cardiometabolic health. However, data from recent acute metabolic studies have implicated ...

Anticipation and the cortisol awakening response within a dynamic psychosocial work environment

Journal Article
Campbell, T. G., Westbury, T., Davison, R., & Florida-James, G. (2018)
Anticipation and the cortisol awakening response within a dynamic psychosocial work environment. International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing, 2,
The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a distinct element of the diurnal pattern of cortisol release, believed to be partly driven by the anticipation of the demands of the ...

Anticipation and the cortisol awakening response within a dynamic psychosocial work environment

Presentation / Conference
Campbell, T., Westbury, T., Davison, R. & Florida-James, G. (2017, October)
Anticipation and the cortisol awakening response within a dynamic psychosocial work environment. Poster presented at Society for Psychophysiological Research - 57th Annual Meeting, Vienna, Austria
The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is a distinct element of the diurnal pattern of cortisol release, believed to be partly driven by the anticipation of the demands of the ...

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