Our people

Professor Gert-Jan Pepping

Professor of Human Movement Science
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Faulty of Health Sciences

Areas of expertise: ecological dynamics; perception and action; human movement science; motor control and skill acquisition; visual exploration and situation awareness; decision making in sport; team and multi-agent coordination; ageing, gait and falls; natural environments and wellbeing; wearable sensing and virtual reality.

Phone: 07 3623 7550

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Brisbane Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5926-2000

Professor Gert-Jan Pepping is Professor of Human Movement Sciences in the School of Behavioural and Health Sciences at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane and leads the Perception-in-Action Research Group. His research examines how people perceive opportunities for action and adapt their behaviour to complex and changing physical, social and natural environments.

Grounded in the Gibsonian ecological approach to perception and action and dynamical-systems theory, his work investigates human–environment relations and the reciprocal relationship between people and their environments across the lifespan. A growing focus of his research concerns healthy ageing and the ways in which built, natural and social environments can support or constrain movement, participation, independence and wellbeing. This includes research on gait adaptability and falls prevention, age-friendly environments, intergenerational living and learning, nature-based activity, social prescribing, and ecological approaches to health and wellbeing.

More broadly, Professor Pepping studies perception–action coupling, visual exploration, situation awareness, decision making, interpersonal coordination and skill acquisition. His research connects fundamental theory with applied challenges spanning health, ageing, sport and demanding operational environments, including work on wearable sensing, virtual reality, mental fatigue and recovery, talent development, team performance and human performance in isolated and extreme environments. He has collaborated with partners including the Queensland Academy of Sport, Australian Institute of Sport, and NASA-linked research teams.

View academia profile

Select publications

• Miller, E., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2025). GrandSchools: a new intergenerational third place for community regeneration. Contemporary Social Science, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2025.2590111
• Mohr, M., Federolf, P., Pepping, G.-J., et al. (2023). Editorial: Human movement and motor control in the natural environment. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 11, 1210173. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2023.1210173
• Patil, G., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2023). Dynamical biomarkers in teams and other multiagent systems. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 26(S1), S9–S13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2023.04.004
• Trotter, M., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2022). Intergenerational living and learning: The value and risks of co-locating retirement villages on secondary school campuses. Australasian Journal on Ageing. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.13111
• Cronström, A., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2022). Acute effect of traditional and adaptive metronomes on gait variability in older individuals with a history of falls. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-02066-9
• Johnson, C. D., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2021). Establishing and applying measurement reliability in perceptual-motor coordination tasks. Ecological Psychology, 33(3–4), 297–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/10407413.2021.1965479
• Brymer, E., Araújo, D., Davids, K., & Pepping, G.-J. (2020). Conceptualising the human health and wellbeing outcomes of acting in natural environments: An ecological perspective. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01362
• Eagle, S. R., et al., including Pepping, G.-J. (2020). Increased risk of musculoskeletal injury following sport-related concussion: a perception-action coupling approach. Sports Medicine, 50(1), 15–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01144-3
• McGuckian, T. B., Cole, M. H., Jordet, G., Chalkley, D., & Pepping, G.-J. (2018). Don’t turn blind! The relationship between exploration before ball possession and on-ball performance in association football. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 441. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02520
• Withagen, R., de Poel, H., Araújo, D., & Pepping, G.-J. (2012). Affordances can invite behavior: Reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency. New Ideas in Psychology, 30, 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2011.12.003
• • Moll, T., Jordet, G., & Pepping, G.-J. (2010). Emotional contagion in soccer penalty shootouts: Celebration of individual success is associated with ultimate team success. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(9), 983–992. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2010.484068

Projects

• 2024–2027 — Enhancing Talent Detection: A comprehensive analysis of coaches’ intuition and standardised testing in Olympic sports. Queensland Academy of Sport / ACU; AU$72,000.
• 2023 — STOP Falls study: feasibility of recruitment and longitudinal tracking of health factors and falls in older Australian adults. ACU Faculty of Health Sciences Research Project Grant; AU$9,688.69.
• 2020-2025 — An Inter-generational Learning and Living Campus: A New Model for Healthy Senior Living and Integrated School Communities across Urban and Regional Australia (AU$1,156,152.75; CI-C). NHMRC Ideas Grant.
• 2020–2021 — Virtual Practicum: implementation and evaluation of a virtual-reality learning environment for exercise science practicum. ACU Teaching Development Grant; AU$11,410; Chief Investigator.
• 2018–2021 — Transfer of decision-making and related perceptual skills in expert team-sport performers. University of the Sunshine Coast / Queensland Academy of Sport; AU$62,500; Co-Principal Investigator.
• 2014–2019 — Psychological risk, physical health and performance in isolated, confined and extreme environments. NASA; US$950,000; Collaborator.

Accolades and Awards

• 2017 — Faculty of Health Sciences Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Learning and Teaching (Team Award).
• 2009 — University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Lecturer of the Year, Faculty of Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen.

Appointments and Affiliations

• 2014–present — Professor, School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University.
• 2018–present — Research Lead, Perception-in-Action Research Group.
• 2014–2025 — Deputy Head, School of Exercise Sciences / School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University.
• 2019–2020 — Head of Discipline, Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University.
• 2017–2025 — Executive Member, Australasian Skill Acquisition Research Group.
• 2019–2022 — Adjunct Professor of Sports Medicine and Nutrition, University of Pittsburgh, USA.

Editorial roles

• Associate Editor Frontiers in Psychology (section Human Movement and Sport Psychology).
• Research Topic Editor Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (section Biomechanics): Human Movement and Motor Control in the Natural Environment.
• Science Mentor Frontiers for Young Minds (section Understanding Neuroscience).
• Advisory board-member Journal of Sports Sciences (section Social and Behavioural Sciences).

International journal review panels

• Peer review for international journals, funding bodies, and institutions, including: Acta Psychologica, Asia Pacific Journal of Education; Biological Psychology; Ecological Psychology; European Journal of Sport Sciences; Experimental Brain Research; Frontiers in Psychology; Human Movement Science; International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology; International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology; Journal of Applied Sport Psychology; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance; Naturwissenschaften; Neuroscience Letters; PLOS One Psychology of Sport and Exercise; Revista de Psicologia del Deporte; Science and Medicine in Football; Sports Medicine; Visual Cognition; Perception.

Grant agency review panels

• Dutch Health and Medical Research Council (ZonMW); UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); Queensland Academy of Sport; NHMRC.

Public engagement activities

• 2025 — “From Social Prescribing to Ecological Prescribing: Reframing Health Through the Lens of Affordances,” EACH25 / ASPIRE International Social Prescribing Conference, Brisbane.
• 2025 — “Reconnecting Through Nature: Trek2Health as an Ecological Approach to Social Prescribing for Frontline Wellbeing,” EACH25 / ASPIRE International Social Prescribing Conference, Brisbane.
• 2023 — “The Instrumental Role of Exploration in Performance and Ageing,” Australasian Skill Acquisition Network Meeting, Christchurch.
• 2022 — Invited presentation, “Situation Awareness and the Regulation of Action in Performance Environments,” Macquarie Military Biomarker Symposium, Sydney.
• 2020 — Invited presentation on situation awareness and action regulation, Training Enhancement and Military Performance, UNSW Canberra.
• 2013 — Research interview, “The Sport Hormone?”, The Lancet.
• 2012 — Research coverage, “The Love Hormone as Sports Enhancer,” The New York Times.
• 2012 — Public exhibition, “The Sutu and the Contagiousness of Scoring in Football,” Night of Arts and Sciences, Groningen.
• 2010 — Media interview, “What if you knew the chance to win?”, RTV Noord.