Board members

Andrew is a Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology at AUT’s Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand. Andrew teaches under- and post-graduate students in a range of sport science papers as well as supervising several Masters and PhD students. He has a wide range of research interests but the majority of his research focusses on strategies to enhance aerobic responses, adaptations and performance in endurance sport. Andrew has published almost 100 scientific articles and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. From an applied practitioner perspective he has provided physiology support to a range of athletes and is currently Head of Performance Physiology at HPSNZ. Andrew has served on the executive board at SESNZ previously and returned in 2018 to contribute further to the ongoing growth and development of the organisation.

Associate Professor Andy Foskett is the founding Head of the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition at Massey University. Andy has a keen interest in high performance sport from physiological, nutritional and S&C perspectives and has worked with multiple high performance athletes across a diverse range of sports. In addition to his role with SESNZ Dr Foskett has held various Governance roles within sport and exercise and is currently President of the Tertiary Council of Physical Activity and Sport Science (TCPASE); Chair of the Massey University Blues Committee; and a member of NZ Football’s High Performance and Player Welfare Committee.

Prior to taking up his current position at the University of Waikato in 2014, Rich was Director of the Institute of Human Performance at the University of Hong Kong. Before that, he lectured in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, England. Rich holds a BSc (Hons) and an MA (in Psychology) from the University of Otago and a D.Phil (Experimental Psychology) from the University of York, England. He sits on the Health Panel for the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) 2018 Quality Evaluation. Rich is interested in the psychology of human performance and is well known for his work in implicit (unconscious) motor learning.

Prior to taking up his current position as Research Manager at HPSNZ in late 2022, Glenn was a performance nutritionist in NZ for Athletics NZ and Canoe Racing NZ leading in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was also a member of the NZ Olympic team as head of Nutrition for the games which culminated in Aotearoa having its biggest ever medal haul despite the underlying pandemic constraints.

Glenn has also spent a considerable amount of time overseas, primarily in the UK where he worked as Lead nutritionist for the British Athletics team (2009-2013), following by the lead nutritionist role for the LTA (2013-2018). During this time he continued a deep dive into elite Tennis where he was contracted by the ATP to educate elite players worldwide and privately by Andy Murray. Those years proved to be the most successful for Andy Murray, winning Wimbledon for a second time and ending 2016 as World number #1. The British Davis Cup team also enjoyed success during this time by winning the Davis Cup – ending a 79 year wait for success in the global team tournament.

Glenn studied at the University of Otago where he completed a Exercise Science degree (Phed), a Nutrition degree (BSc), followed by an MSc (Dist.) with the topic of his research being comparing acute diet manipulation in Elite Rugby Union players. This work combined with his teaching of Sports Nutrition at the Human Nutrition department was spotted by New Zealand Rugby. Shortly after finishing his teaching and research at the University of Otago he began working for the All-Blacks rugby team (2002-2008) becoming the first Nutritionist to travel widely with the team in a support and research capacity.

Vanessa takes pride in her role as National Manager and ensures that all needs of SESNZ members are met. Her strengths are organising, listening and planning so the highlight of her year is the Annual Conference. This also allows her to interact with SESNZ members and really get a feel for the direction of the organisation. Vanessa is very excited about the future of SESNZ and the memorandums of understanding with seven International Sport and Exercise Science bodies and she looks forward to what this will bring. She’d love to hear from you, so please get in touch.

Nicole is a PhD students at Lincoln University investigating the affect of collisions in junior rugby on female adolescent players brain structure and function. Prior to this Nicole completed her BSc (Hons) at the University of Otago. Nicole is passionate about creating and promoting a safe sporting environment especially for our tamariki and wahine.

Nicolai Morris
Bennett Jones
Amanda Murphy
Richard Deuchrass

Mat Blair
Darryl Cochrane
Dave Edgar