A 24-YEAR-OLD Ramsey woman has been elected to the world’s biggest sports medicine and science organisation as a ‘student voice’.
Katie Taylor, of Pairk Ollay, Ramsey, is studying for a PhD at the University of Idaho, having gained a degree in sports science from the University of Central Lancashire.
She first went to the US university in 2010 after winning the Department of Education and Children’s Ella Olesen scholarship.
She returned to the North West state last autumn to further her studies after being awarded a graduate teaching assistantship.
Now Katie has been accepted as a national student representative on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) – the largest sports medicine and exercise science organisation in the world.
She represents the North West chapter of ACSM, which is one of a dozen chapters and includes Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Katie said: ‘With more than 45,000 members and certified professionals worldwide, ACSM is dedicated to advancing scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.
‘ACSM provides the worldwide guidelines for the recommended levels of physical activity, for example.
‘I submitted my application not expecting anything from it and was delighted when I learned I had been successful. My election means I am the voice of the students in the North West of America.
‘I am honoured to be able to represent students on such a well-respected organisation. I am proud to be the first person from the Isle of Man, maybe even the British Isles, to sit on the executive board.’
Katie’s role will see her attend all the ACSM national meetings.
She has just been to a regional ACSM conference in Oregon, where she was one among eight of 250 attendees invited to speak. She was awarded the ‘outstanding doctorate research’ prize for her study on insulin resistance and its presentation.
Katie will help to arrange the ACSM’s regional conference in 2014 and will be the main organiser of the associated, highly competitive, student competition that takes place at it.
She will also travel to Orlando, Florida, next year for the national ACSM conference.
Katie will fit her role in around her studies in physiology, ethics, and statistics and teaching weight training, motor behaviour, biomechanics and health promotion to undergraduates.
She also teaches Manx dancing in primary schools as an after-school activity.
Katie said: ‘As ever, I am thankful to the Department of Education and Children for providing me with the opportunities that have got me to where I am today.’
