72nd Annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation
The Psychology of Performance Optimization in Collegiate Athletes
April 16-17, 2025
Organized by Aron K. Barbey & Douglas Schultz
Collegiate athletics presents a unique opportunity for personal growth and development, cultivating lifelong physical, mental, and social skills that transcend the playing field. However, the rigorous demands of collegiate sports can also pose challenges to an athlete’s overall health, wellbeing, and performance. Recognizing the pivotal role of psychology for enabling athletic success, this symposium, titled “The Psychology of Performance Optimization in Collegiate Athletes,” investigates the psychological underpinnings of athletic achievement, examining evidence-based interventions that empower student-athletes to thrive both on and off the field.
Theme 1: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Diagnosis, Treatment, and Interventions)
Speakers
- Tony Belli (University of Birmingham) - "Advances in Concussion Diagnostics"
- Carrie Esopenko (Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai) - "Improving Concussion Outcomes in Female Athletes: The Importance of Addressing Disparities in Clinical Care"
- Grant Iverson (Harvard Medical School) - "Promoting Excellence in Sport-Related Concussion Research and Clinical Care for All"
- Doug Wiebe (University of Michigan) - "Using Epidemiology to Understand Sport Concussion Incidence and Acute Outcomes and Motivate Studies of Long-Term Health"
Theme 2: Performance Optimization Factors (Psychological, Biological, Social, etc.)
Speakers
- Lt Col Robert Briggs (United States Air Force) - "STRONG Lab (Human Performance Lab at Air Force Research Laboratory) Overview: Includes “Movement Matters” Project Highlights and Future Steps in Movement Screening"
- Josh Hagen (Ohio State University) - "Human Performance Monitoring and Augmentation in Athletics, Military, and First Responders"
- Barbara Meyer (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) - "The High Performance Continuum: An Integrative Solution for Optimizing Health and Performance"
- Jesse Steinfeldt (Indiana University) - "Motivation and Mental Health Among Elite College Athletes and Coaches: The Impact of NIL and the Transfer Portal Era on NCAA Football and Basketball"
Registration
Please register for the symposium by April 7th at the following link: https://motivation.unl.edu/registration/
Poster session submissions
We are accepting submissions for poster presentations. The poster session will be held April 16-17 during the Symposium (details to follow). The theme of the symposium this year is, “The Psychology of Performance Optimization in Collegiate Athletes.” Submissions are limited to 250 words. This does not include title, authors, and affiliations. Submissions should emphasize the relationship between the project and at least one of two major themes: 1) Mild traumatic brain injury (diagnosis, treatment, interventions, etc), 2) Factors related to performance optimization (psychological, biological, social, etc). Submissions should be emailed to Doug Schultz (dschultz14@unl.edu) with the subject “Nebraska Symposium Poster Abstract”. We encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines and University of Nebraska System institutions. The deadline for submissions is March 29, 2025.
