The making of a high-performance athlete stems from more than merely genetics or solely practice. Nick Wattie, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, studies the psychosocial and environmental constraints on sport participation and sports expertise, as key determinants in moulding an elite athlete. He examines biases that influence athlete development such as socioeconomic status; and further explores the theory that community population and available sports facilities are contributing factors. Understanding the types of environments that are more conducive to positive athlete development can have policy implications in neighbourhood design and resource allocation. Focused on talent identification and sports development, Dr. Wattie’s research also investigates the impact of the relative age phenomenon in sport and education. His research aims to understand how the social policy that results in age differences within a cohort creates different developmental experiences for children. Notably, Dr. Wattie aims to determine the biases and constraints that influence parasport athletes in Canada. In collaboration with key stakeholders including the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, Own the Podium, and Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s national development teams, he is assessing how these athletes develop, and identifying unique characteristics of their experiences and trajectories compared to able-bodied athletes. The goal is to better understand skill acquisition among high-performance parasport athletes. Beyond elite athletes, Dr. Wattie’s research also looks at the psychosocial and physical health outcomes associated with sport participation in youth and older adults. He joined in July 2014, following a three-year post-doctoral research fellowship in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. He is co-editor of the upcoming Routledge Handbook of Talent Identification and Development in Sport. Avid sport participation during his youth naturally funnelled Dr. Wattie into the field of kinesiology. In 2005, he earned his Bachelor of Life Sciences and his Bachelor of Physical & Health Education, both at Queen’s University in Kingston. In 2007, he received his Master of Arts in Kinesiology from York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science in Toronto; and in 2011, he received his Doctorate from the Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Metropolitan University in West Yorkshire, England. Ontario Tech University