Speaking of the influence her postgraduate study at º£½ÇÒùĸÂÒÂ× played, Dr Orr said: “I credit for getting me excited about research initially. He was my dissertation adviser and a brilliant support in developing my research interests early on. And then ’s module on contemporary issues in sport – plus the module on risk and crisis management in sport - were instrumental in laying the foundations for what would become my area of expertise. I still use examples borrowed from those classes in my teaching.”
With regard to her work in developing ideas around sport ecology, she said: “I think people understand that sport relies on the natural environment, but don’t often consider the implications of that dependency. For example, skiing is only possible if there’s snow; field sports need a turf and temperatures above zero. When conditions are compromised or altered, say, by an extreme heat wave, or an unusually warm winter, the whole landscape of sport is liable to change.
I think people assume that the money in the sport sector or its size will protect it from experiencing environmental changes or shocks, when that’s just not the case. As for the moral and ethical responsibility of sports organizations to be good stewards of their environment, that is largely overlooked - aside from occasional small initiatives that are mostly PR efforts! But there’s some promising evidence that the tide is changing... I’ll look forward to sharing more about these developments in my lecture.”
Dr Orr's seminar will take place at 3pm (UK time) on 19 January on at the º£½ÇÒùĸÂÒÂ×.