Department of Veterans Affairs. Outside the classroom, Carlson was an U.S. ranked hammer thrower qualifying and competing in four USA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Carlson is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a 2011 recipient of the American College of Sports Medicine New England Chapter (NEACSM) Honor Award, and has recently been elected President of the NEACSM for an unprecedented second term. Her primary research interests include resistance exercise, and she has a special interest in the physiological challenges observed in automobile racing.