Carl Woods

Associate Professor Carl Woods is a theoretical skill acquisition scientist, studying human-environment interactions at the intersection of sport science, ecological psychology and social anthropology. In addition to his appointment at the University of Queensland, he is the Learning Design Lead at the Queensland Academy of Sport, and Learning Design National Discipline Lead for Australian Athletics. Carl has a unique blend of theoretical and applied experiences, having held research leadership positions within the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, while coordinating coaching science, skill acquisition, and innovation within the Australian Football League. Given these diverse experiences, his research spans three major themes: 1) theoretical advancements to the field of sport science; 2) exploring ways of fostering human-environment interactions through the promotion of ecologically literate behaviour; 3) addressing practical challenges in sport related to performance preparation, practice task design, and coach education. Sport science, Ecological psychology, Ecological literacy, Exploratory movement, Environmental design

[2026] Loosening tightened logics: a comment on the role of affordances. Woods, Carl T., Richard, Véronique, Martin, David and Cairney, John (2026). New Ideas in Psychology, 83 101289, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2026.101289 [2026] Establishing expert consensus on athletic movement quality assessment components. Wijekulasuriya, Gyan A., Woods, Carl T., Kittel, Aden and Larkin, Paul (2026). Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 40 (9), 1069-1077. doi: 10.1519/jsc.0000000000005478 [2026] Towards an ecological approach to leadership: some personal reflections from an early-career academic finding her way in academia. Almarcha, Maria Carmen, Richard, Véronique and Woods, Carl T. (2026). Sport, Education and Society, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2026.2706547 [2026] The association