Non-Tenure Track Faculty Research Excellence Awards 2023

Earl “Bud” Cooper, clinical professor in the Department of Kinesiology, is a world leader in optimizing heat safety and sports through research, education and advocacy. He has demonstrated consistent research excellence since his arrival at UGA in 2008, successfully competing for extramural funding and publishing foundational studies on heat hazards for collegiate and high school athletes. The critical importance of work is best captured by the fact that Cooper has saved the lives of young athletes in Georgia and elsewhere. He led a six-year study that resulted in changing practice policies for high schools in Georgia in 2012, reducing potentially life-threatening heat illnesses by up to 60%. His research on modifying exercise based on WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) metric has made Georgia the leader in this safety measure. Cooper’s research has been cited as critical evidence in guiding effective hot-weather sports participation policies in several states around the country and is cited in numerous national consensus statements.