A literal move to Tasmania has helped US-expat Scott Pedersen to practices what he preaches – movement.
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The University of Tasmania senior lecturer moved to the island state in 2009 to pursue a professional opportunity.
However, the move became so much more, with Dr Pedersen, his wife and two children, falling in love with Tasmania.
Dr Pedersen is the first to admit, he didn’t know much about Tasmania, or Australia, when he moved here.
“My sister had been working at UTAS, in Hobart, for about six years prior and she let me know about the job opportunity in Launceston,” he said.
“I did a bit of work in China and, being from the US, we are very insular.
“When I got there and saw how well it functioned as a country without any US involvement, let’s say it was an eye-opener for me,” he said.
Dr Pedersen’s work, in exercise science, meant he always had a desire to help those who were less able to help themselves.
He was born in New York, and has lived in Washington, North Carolina and Indiana.
His work also took him to New Mexico, where he worked with people who live with disabilities.
“I never wanted to do work where I helped athletes go faster or improve quicker, I wanted to help those who were less able to help themselves,” he said.
Dr Pedersen said he first starting thinking about a move after spending some time in New Mexico.
“I have young kids, but New Mexico, it’s not safe, there’s a lot of crime there and gang wars,” he said.
As part of his travels, Dr Pedersen was invited to do some work in China, and it made his desire to relocate even stronger.
The China trip sparked a desire to travel the world, to find a place internationally where he could conduct his research but also find a new home.
“I had no idea about Tasmania, only from what my sister told me. I knew I wanted to do something internationally and I was happy that I could go somewhere that spoke English.
Nearly a decade later, Mr Pedersen said he would never go back to the US.
“I have never been back,” he said.
After he moved his family to Tasmania, and with his sister already here, it wasn’t long before his mother and father also made the move down under.
While Dr Pedersen has never been back to the homeland, he said his wife takes his two children, 12-year-old Marley and eight-year-old Gus back to the US each year.
Dr Pedersen said one of the most overwhelming feelings he has about Tasmania was “safe”.
“It just felt so safe here...and you can walk everywhere,” he said.
Practicing what he preaches, Dr Pedersen walks to work, at the University of Tasmania Newnham campus, every day.
He said he enjoys the walk, even though some people tell him he walks too far.
“Also, compared to America, the health system here is fantastic,” he said.
Dr Pedersen said he loved Launceston, because of how connected its community was, and how close all the amenities were.
But also, because of its atmosphere.
“We love the (Cataract) Gorge,” he said.
He said the health and education systems were also positives for his family, who have benefited from both.
Tasmania is also the home of one of Dr Pedersen’s major achievements – the development of Exertime.
Exertime is a software application that is aimed at encouraging office workers to increase the amount of exercise they do during the day.
“Exertime is based on the need to decrease the amount of sitting associated with desk-based work. Thus, short, low intensity bouts of activity performed throughout the day should improve the health of desk-based employees.
“Moreover, Exertime activities are designed so that employees can perform them at their desk or within their workplace without the need for a change of clothes or a subsequent shower,” Dr Pedersen said.
Exertime was developed in 2009 in conjunction with Dean Cooley and the application has had success when implemented within Tasmania Police.
“We found some encouraging results with Tasmania Police employees just after 13 weeks of exposure to Exertime,” Dr Pedersen said.
In 2010, the pair teamed up with the Tasmania Department of Police and Emergency Management and the state government to implement Project PAUSE.
Project PAUSE was developed to add short-bursts of physical activity to the work habits of people engaged in desk-based work and was the precursor to Exertime.
“Employees [at Tasmania Police] who used the software and moved more regularly throughout the day, exhibited significantly decreased mean arterial blood pressure. Moreover, the employees felt as if the program helped to increase their work productivity by adding an element of structure to their day.”
Dr Pedersen said he didn’t know it at the time, but the concept and research behind Exertime was gaining traction in Australia.
“There were a lot of people who were interested in the concept, in Melbourne, Sydney and Queensland,” he said.
He said he didn’t believe he would have had the same success, or developed Exertime as well, had he stayed in the US.
“It was really taking off here, I got calls from the UK and the US, with offers of partnerships and all the feedback I got was that they weren’t doing anything like this in the US.”