Dr. Tristan Clemons joined the Northwestern staff in 2018 as a volunteer assistant coach.
Clemons brings a wealth of talent to the Wildcats on and off the field. Having been a successful goalkeeper for the Australian Men's Hockey Team for eight years, he also completed his doctoral degree at the University of Western Australia and is working with renowned professor Sam Stupp at the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology.
Just one of the numerous awards Dr. Clemons earned in his career was the Hockey Australia Personal Excellence Award in 2016 for off-the-field success in study and work coupled with diligence in his approach to hockey, his teammates and coaches.
Clemons represented the Kookaburras at the international stage 51 times, including at the 2017 World League Final and matches at the 2015 and 2017 Oceania Cups.
While Clemons is making a transition from playing to coaching, he hopes his extensive background can help lift Northwestern to a new level, on the back of the team's second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Tracey Fuchs in 2017.
"I am excited to add some value around the team, especially with the goalkeepers, and maybe bring some new teaching methodology, strategies and skills," Clemons said. "If I can improve the goalkeepers to be the best in the country, we will go a long way towards winning the title, this year and in the future."
Clemons adult life has been focused around his two passions, research and hockey, and he has a unique look on how the two usually unrelated subjects have actually played off of each other.
"They are both similar. In hockey, there are so many setbacks in terms of injury, youth selections, coaches falling out of favor with you and things like that," Clemons said. "The same thing happens in research. You have a paper that does not get accepted, a grant that does not come up, results that go wrong."
Clemons believes the similarities has pushed him to excel across both disciplines.
"Throughout my career, I have been a better research scientist because of my hockey, and a better hockey player because of my research," Clemons said. "I think they have gone hand in hand, and enhanced both."
Clemons chose to attend university at Western Australia because of its unique ability to allow him to do the research he wanted and play for the national hockey team. At Northwestern, he made a similar choice, and in large part because of the school's advantage in facilities in both areas.
"The new facility here [Walter Athletics Center] that has been just finished, the opportunity to work in a space like that is phenomenal," Clemons added. "I am very fortunate to have world class facilities in the sporting arena, and in my research."
Clemons is working specifically at Northwestern to make new biomedically engineered materials to revolutionize medicine under Professor Stupp. One area Clemons specializes in is the tissue regeneration after spinal cord injuries.
"I am a kid at the candy store at the moment. It's the field hockey and researcher's version of turning up at Disney World. This is the place you want to be."
Clemons brings a wealth of talent to the Wildcats on and off the field. Having been a successful goalkeeper for the Australian Men's Hockey Team for eight years, he also completed his doctoral degree at the University of Western Australia and is working with renowned professor Sam Stupp at the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology.
Just one of the numerous awards Dr. Clemons earned in his career was the Hockey Australia Personal Excellence Award in 2016 for off-the-field success in study and work coupled with diligence in his approach to hockey, his teammates and coaches.
Clemons represented the Kookaburras at the international stage 51 times, including at the 2017 World League Final and matches at the 2015 and 2017 Oceania Cups.
While Clemons is making a transition from playing to coaching, he hopes his extensive background can help lift Northwestern to a new level, on the back of the team's second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Tracey Fuchs in 2017.
"I am excited to add some value around the team, especially with the goalkeepers, and maybe bring some new teaching methodology, strategies and skills," Clemons said. "If I can improve the goalkeepers to be the best in the country, we will go a long way towards winning the title, this year and in the future."
Clemons adult life has been focused around his two passions, research and hockey, and he has a unique look on how the two usually unrelated subjects have actually played off of each other.
"They are both similar. In hockey, there are so many setbacks in terms of injury, youth selections, coaches falling out of favor with you and things like that," Clemons said. "The same thing happens in research. You have a paper that does not get accepted, a grant that does not come up, results that go wrong."
Clemons believes the similarities has pushed him to excel across both disciplines.
"Throughout my career, I have been a better research scientist because of my hockey, and a better hockey player because of my research," Clemons said. "I think they have gone hand in hand, and enhanced both."
Clemons chose to attend university at Western Australia because of its unique ability to allow him to do the research he wanted and play for the national hockey team. At Northwestern, he made a similar choice, and in large part because of the school's advantage in facilities in both areas.
"The new facility here [Walter Athletics Center] that has been just finished, the opportunity to work in a space like that is phenomenal," Clemons added. "I am very fortunate to have world class facilities in the sporting arena, and in my research."
Clemons is working specifically at Northwestern to make new biomedically engineered materials to revolutionize medicine under Professor Stupp. One area Clemons specializes in is the tissue regeneration after spinal cord injuries.
"I am a kid at the candy store at the moment. It's the field hockey and researcher's version of turning up at Disney World. This is the place you want to be."