Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS

Applied Sport Scientist at Racing Louisville and PhD Candidate at The Ohio State University

Racing Louisville FC and The Ohio State University Human Performance Collaborative

Hi!! My name is Emaly Vatne and I am a PhD Candidate (all-but-dissertation) in kinesiology and statistical data analysis at Ohio State. I currently serve as the Applied Sport Scientist with Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL. I previously worked for the Ohio State Department of Athletics and Human Performance Collaborative in sport and performance science. Before all of this, I played 5 seasons on the Ohio State varsity women’s soccer team.

I started this site to track my progress and projects over the next few years and to share what I learn along the way. I hope something I share is helpful for you!!! :)

Interests

Applied sport science
Athlete monitoring
Recovery science
Data analysis and visualization
Wearable devices
Internal load
Data engineering

Education

PhD in Kinesiology; Graduate Minor in Statistical Data Analysis, 2026
The Ohio University
MS in Kinesiology, Health and Exercise Science, 2023
The Ohio University
BS in Exercise Science; Undergraduate Minor in Human Nutrition, 2021
The Ohio University

Experience

Applied Sport Scientist

Racing Louisville FC

September 2025 – Present Louisville, KY

Assistant Sport Scientist

The Ohio State University Department of Athletics and Human Performance Collaborative

August 2022 – September 2025 Columbus, OH

X-Force Fellow in Data Science and Engineering Research

National Security Innovation Network and Army National Guard

June 2023 – August 2023 Remote

Data Analytics Intern

Orlando Soccer Club

January 2023 – June 2023 Remote

Undergraduate Research Intern

The Ohio State University MOvES Lab

January 2021 – December 2022 Columbus, OH

Fellow and Data Science Intern

Women in Sports Tech and Perch

June 2022 – August 2022 Remote

Undergraduate Strength and Conditioning Intern

The Ohio State University Department of Athletics

June 2021 – August 2021 Columbus, OH

Certifications

NSCA Certified Performance & Sport Scientist

National Strength and Conditioning Association Dec 2025

See certificate

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals

Microsoft Sep 2023

See certificate

Data Science: Foundations using R Specialization

Coursera, Johns Hopkins University May 2023

See certificate

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

National Strength and Conditioning Association May 2022

See certificate

Posts and Projects

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Route Optimization to Visit Every Big Ten Team at Home

This post is about applying the “traveling saleman problem and linear programming to the Big Ten football schedule.

Last updated on Jun 17, 2025 9 min read

Applying Logistic Regression to Create an Expected Pass Model and Identifying Top Overperformers

In this post, I show the code for creating an “Expected Pass” model using logistic regression, and then I use it to identify which female footballers outperform the prediction for their passes.

Last updated on Feb 14, 2025 6 min read

Heart Rate Variability and its Applications in Sport Science

Heart Rate Variability is now commonly reported on commercial off-the-shelf wearable devices, but what is it, how is it measured, and how is it used in applied sport science and in athlete monitoring research?

Dec 29, 2024 12 min read

How to Export and Attach a Power BI Report as a PNG and PDF in an Email

Power Automate can be used to export a Power BI report (either a single page or the entire report) in the body of an email as a PNG and/or as an attachment as a PDF. This brief article will outline how to do this. However, it is important to note that some of the features described below may required paid licenses of Power BI and/or Power Automate.

Last updated on Nov 9, 2024 9 min read

Comparison of Sleep Monitoring Data using EEG and Commercial Wearable Devices

The purpose of this post is to define and demonstrate the statistical analysis techniques used to compare the data collected from a commercial wearable device to gold-standards. In this example, I use my own personal sleep data across 30 nights collected from an electroencephalography headband and two commercial wearables. I present the different analysis and visualization approaches as well as their results using R and RShiny.

Last updated on Nov 22, 2023 12 min read

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Publications

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Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS, Hana Ulman, Matthew Vatne, Daniel Cencer, Justin Merrigan, Kyle Pulvermacher, Catherine Saenz, Bradley Robinson, Jason Stone, Josh Hagen (2025). Criterion validity of open-source methods for processing R-R intervals in determining heart rate variability metrics(In Preparation).

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Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS, Justin Merrigan, Jason Stone, Catherine Saenz, William Kraemer, Joshua Hagen (2025). Effects of Daytime Floatation-REST on Nocturnal Cardiovascular Physiology, Sleep, and Subjective Recovery in Collegiate Student-Athletes: A Comprehensive Observational Study.

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Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS, Matthew Vatne, Daniel Cencer, William Kraemer, Catherine Saenz, Bradley Robinson, Jason Stone, Justin Merrigan, Kyle Pulvermacher, Michael Dial, Paul Jones, Alexandria Montalbano, Tyler Carpenter, Josh Hagen (2025). Establishing Comprehensive Normative Values of Objective Sleep Quantity and Quality in Collegiate Athletes (Under Review).

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Maha Yazbeck, Mohammad Abdullah, Sura Alhanouti, Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS, Josh Hagen, Theodore Allen, Samantha Krening (2025). Perfect short reveal: Human-centered machine learning approach in analyzing goalscoring strategies in soccer.

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Emaly Vatne, PhD ABD, CPSS, CSCS, Jose Maria Oliva Lozano, Catherine Saenz, Rick Cost, Josh Hagen (2025). Post-Exercise Recovery Modalities in Male and Female Soccer Players Of All Ages And Competitive Levels: A Systematic Review. (Under Review).

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