The School of Applied Sciences

Former Scotland rugby coach reflects on his time at Edinburgh Napier and discusses his new All Blacks role

Ben Fisher may not be the most recognisable name in the sport of rugby but he may well be one of the most influential. After a successful career playing for Boroughmuir RFC and Edinburgh Rugby, Ben took his experience and knowledge to the training grounds, where he has coached Scotland U16, U18 and U20 teams, as well as working as an Academy Manager and Coach for Scottish Rugby for 10 years. While Ben has been instrumental in the development of Scotland’s 2019 Rugby World Cup squad he’s now changed his navy blue colours for an “All Black” one. Upon graduating from Edinburgh Napier University in 2018 with a Master’s degree in Sports Performance Management, Ben was offered the role as a High-Performance Talent Development Manager for the famous New Zealand national rugby union team, also known as the All Blacks.

Ben’s new position within the All Blacks setup sees him managing the 14-strong Provincial Union Academy structure across New Zealand. He said, “We have around 400 players in those academies, aged 18 – 21. I work to ensure the players’ holistic development is catered for and that the curriculum delivered in the academies, and personalised player development plans are all of a high standard. The aim is to ensure a steady supply of high-quality professional players; great people, and future winning All Blacks.” Other parts of his role see him perform ambassadorial duties, as he recently embarked on a trip to Japan, ahead of the Rugby World Cup, to represent the All Blacks on promotional duty.

While the All Blacks are currently in Japan, looking to retain the World Cup for a third consecutive time – a feat that has been unrivalled so far – Ben believes his time at Edinburgh Napier has prepared him for such a high-profile position. He said “I chose to study at Edinburgh Napier University as it offered an excellent programme that was tailored to fit the needs of my learning. The university is very supportive of Rugby in general and its collaboration with Scottish Rugby is excellent. They help develop coaches and players in Scotland via the Edinburgh Academy partnership, the UKSS Level 4 coaching course, and also two Super 6 teams.

During my time at university, I learned a lot of new skills and the course also reinforced a lot of the things that I was doing. Critical analysis and reflection skills were well practised, to dig deep into what I do as a practitioner and why. As a coach, you take on a wide range of roles and the course helped to broaden my understanding of sports psychology, pedagogy, leadership and talent development environments. It was excellent to be able to talk and share experiences with other students and the relationships I formed through my research helped to open my eyes to new ideas and gave me confidence in my own coaching behaviour. This has now given me the confidence to challenge current practice based on what I learnt in the course and the experience I gained in my research.”

After many successful years in Scotland, Ben is now back in his native New Zealand, with his family, a globally recognised Master’s degree, and a highly sought-after position at one of the most successful sport squads of all time. So, what would he recommend for anyone who may be interested in following a similar path? “Experience. Gain as much experience as possible through working, but also volunteering in your community. Learning doesn’t stop: so listen, read, watch and most of all ask people about what they do and why. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas. The more you share, the more the ideas will grow & develop and refine.”

Understanding the health benefits of exercise and physical activity

Due to the prevalence of long-term health conditions in our modern society, and our developing understanding of the health benefits of exercise and physical activity, there is an important need to develop highly skilled postgraduates in Clinical Exercise Science.

The School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University has a unique course that can provide the specialised, evidence-based, clinical exercise science knowledge, and the applied skills required to work with both healthy and clinical populations.

On the MSc in Clinical Exercise Science you can expect to learn about many long-term conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurological conditions and different types of cancer and the role that physical activity and exercise can play in both the prevention and treatment of such conditions.

We want our students to have as much hands on experience as possible, to enhance their career prospects. With that in mind the Clinical Exercise Science MSc includes a large practical component where students will learn to run exercise tests, screen patients, prescribe exercise programmes and learn motivational interviewing techniques. We think it is important that our graduates not only know the physiology of exercise and physical activity, but also have an excellent understanding of what motivates people and how people can be helped to incorporate physical activity and exercise into their lives. Clearly we are very concerned with research, but more importantly we are concerned with the impact that research has in the real world and what this does for the health of both general and clinical populations. The most important thing that a clinical exercise scientist does is make a positive difference to peoples’ lives. This course will give you the knowledge and skills required to go out and do this confidently.

Whether your background is sport/exercise science, psychology, physical activity and health or perhaps you work as a healthcare professional we want to hear from you. Our students come from a very wide variety of backgrounds. In addition to your academic qualifications you will also be given the opportunity to sit the REPS and CIMSPA Validated Level 4 Cancer and Exercise examinations. We want to offer you learning experiences which will enable you to be in the best possible position to exploit the increasing career opportunities as an exercise professional, whether as a physical activity coordinator, a health and well-being physiologist; a clinical exercise physiologist or an exercise referral coordinator.

Dr Melanie Leggate PhD, Programme Leader MSc Clinical Exercise Science

Research targets a cheap and fast method for rapid environmental assessment in coastal restoration

Mangroves protect the coastline. Here we can see old trees that protect the coast of Bunaken island in north Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Marco Fusi is a post-doctoral fellow in a research group led by Dr Karen Diele at Edinburgh Napier University. He completed his PhD at the University of Milan, studying mangroves and other coastal ecosystems around the Indian Ocean, in countries such as Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa.

Following his PhD, Marco has continued studying mangroves, with his post-doctoral fellowship research focusing on the Red Sea mangrove and seagrasses ecosystem.

Marco believes marine life is a natural laboratory, where environmental stressors shape and guide the evolution of life, especially in the light of the dramatic changes led by rapid global warming; and he has a strong passion towards his subject. His most current research project is the NERC project 2018-2021 – As Good as (G)old, which is led by Dr Karen Diele at Edinburgh Napier University.

The aim is to understand the ecological processes in coastal restoration. This will be achieved by comparing coastal areas in North Sulawesi, Indonesia that were previously exploited by intensive and unregulated shrimp farming activity, but which have now been restored to natural mangroves.

The project involves a diverse and multi-disciplinary team made up of scientists from both the UK and Indonesia who aim to understand the biological process that characterise restored mangroves in depth, in order to assess if they regain the full functionality of the natural mangrove.

Marco hopes the research project will deliver two major achievements. The first is to deliver a high impact case study on how the restoration process affects the ecological interaction amongst the species that live in the mangrove – from animals to bacteria.

The second major achievement would be to develop a cheap and fast method for rapid environmental assessment in coastal restoration.

The hope is to implement a conservation strategy that is able to monitor the health of the mangrove ecosystem to protect the sea and the people living nearby.

“Marine life is a natural laboratory where environmental stressors shape and guide the evolution of life, especially in the light of the dramatic changes led by rapid global warming.”

Left: Mangrove root create the right habitat to act as nursery habitat of fishes. In this picture you can see little cardinal fishes that find shelter among the mangrove roots.

Right: Mangrove root host a very diverse community of marine species. In this picture you can see a rich community of algae, sponges, tunicates that lives on a mangrove root. Bu creating structurally complex habitat they enhance the marine biodiversity.

Make a positive difference to peoples’ lives through Clinical Exercise Science

To enhance your career prospects, Edinburgh Napier has developed a unique course that will provide you with specialised, evidence-based, clinical exercise science knowledge, as well as plenty of hands on experience and the applied skills required to work with both healthy and clinical populations.

On this course you can expect to learn about many long-term conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurological conditions and different types of cancer and the role that physical activity and exercise can play in both the prevention and treatment of such conditions.

We want our students to have as much hands on experience as possible. With that in mind the Clinical Exercise Science MSc includes a large practical component where you will learn to run exercise tests, screen patients, prescribe exercise programmes and learn motivational interviewing techniques. We think it is important that our graduates not only know the physiology of exercise and physical activity, but also have an excellent understanding of what motivates people and how you can help people to incorporate physical activity and exercise into their lives. Clearly we are very concerned with research, but more importantly we are concerned with the impact that research has in the real world and what this does for the health of both general and clinical populations. The most important thing that a clinical exercise scientist does is make a positive difference to peoples’ lives. This course will give you the knowledge and skills required to go out and do this confidently.

This course is designed to allow our students to gain the professional skills and knowledge that are required to work in the area of Clinical Exercise Science.

Get more details: https://www.napier.ac.uk/courses/msc-clinical-exercise-science-postgraduate-fulltime

Dean appointed to FSA Committee on Toxicity

Edinburgh Napier University’s Dean of Applied Sciences Gary Hutchison has recently been appointed to the Committee on Toxicity advising the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The FSA is an independent government department that works across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to protect consumers from any potential food safety issues, by making sure food is safe – and is precisely what it claims to be – by using the best scientific evidence.

The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) is an independent scientific committee that provides advice to the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health and other Government Departments and Agencies on matters concerning the toxicity of chemicals.

Due to Gary’s background in reproductive and development toxicity and particle toxicology, he has also been invited to join the FSA Register of Specialists.

As a member of the Register of Specialists, Gary will now be on a list of pre-approved experts whom the FSA can call on to carry out any scientific and technical work. This work will involve providing evidence, analysis or expert advice on risk assessment and other scientific issues relevant to food safety and regulated food products and food processes. As well as this, Gary’s expert knowledge will be called upon to provide peer review and appraisal of research questions and proposals.

The work that Gary will do with the FSA will benefit UK consumers directly by helping ensure the safety of food and the effective, evidence-based regulation of the food industry.