Two professors of health and human performance are returning to the land down under after nearly ten years away.

Katherine Thomas, associate professor of health and human performance, and Jerry Thomas, chairman of the department of health and human performance, will fly to Australia for seven weeks in May and June. The two will deliver lectures and present papers on health and exercise.

They were also in Australia in 1993.

“It’s always enjoyable to go and meet with other professionals to learn their different ideas on things,” Katherine Thomas said.

The first two weeks of the Thomas’ trip will be spent at the University of Western Australia in Perth, where Jerry Thomas will be recognized as a distinguished visiting scholar.

“I will give a paper to the department there on the future directions of health and human performance in the United States,” Jerry Thomas said. His research focuses on how children become experts at sports such as tennis and basketball.

At the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Jerry Thomas will give a general presentation about sport and motor expertise. He said he will also give a department-wide lecture on the development of gender differences in physical activity.

Katherine Thomas said one of her presentations will focus on team nutrition and physical activity education. The other will focus on the standards physical education teachers should meet and the standards they should use to test their students. She said she will also be a part of presentations with Jerry Thomas on expertise and sports.

This is not the first time the two have gone abroad to present their research. They have also taken trips to Beijing, Hong Kong and Scotland.

“Certainly, I think it’s good in terms of developing relations with other universities that have similar programs,” Katherine Thomas said.

She said the ideas that are shared on these visits benefit the schools and the students.

The trip will not be all work and no play. Jerry Thomas said they do have some plans for sight-seeing, including a ride on the Indian Pacific from Perth to Sydney, the longest train trek in the world.