School of Kinesiology faculty and staff celebrated the end of the fall semester with an afternoon of volunteering at Second Harvest Heartland, creating “protein packs”—boxes of sorted, frozen meats that will be distributed to local food shelves, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior community centers and children’s after school programs. The School of Kinesiology group proudly packed 17,000 pounds of protein!
Second Harvest Heartland works to reinvent hunger relief through leadership and innovation. As the Upper Midwest’s largest hunger relief organization, Second Harvest Heartland is known for distributing great amounts of food quickly and efficiently; in 2011 alone, they collected, warehoused and distributed more than 76 million pounds of food.
Stoffregen receives Grant-in-Aid to conduct research at sea
Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, has been awarded a Grant-in-Aid from the University’s Office of the Vice President for Research for his project, “Gait at sea: Getting your sea legs.” The project is an extension of Stoffregen’s existing research on nautical body posture that will include the first-ever experimental research on human gait at sea.
Sports Medicine Psychology Lab unveils research-focused blog
The Sports Medicine Psychology Lab (SMPL), one of the newest labs in the School of Kinesiology, also has a new blog, focused on current research trends and activities related to sports medicine psychology. Reed Steele, a doctoral student studying sport psychology in the School of Kinesiology, will serve as the blog’s editor.
Continue reading “Sports Medicine Psychology Lab unveils research-focused blog”
Winter issue of Minnesota Magazine features Stoffregen’s research
The University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s Winter issue of Minnesota Magazine features the body-sway research of Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology. Stoffregen’s research found that pre-bout standing body sway in boxers predicts the feeling of sickness or nausea after the bout.
Continue reading “Winter issue of Minnesota Magazine features Stoffregen’s research”
Allison speaks at St. Thomas School of Law
Rayla Allison, J.D., associate director and lecturer in the School of Kinesiology, recently gave a talk to the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at the University of St. Thomas. Her talk focused on on practicing law in the sport industry and common legal issues.
Konczak gives keynote lectures in Taiwan
Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, recently traveled to Taiwan on a five-day speaking tour where he delivered five lectures at four different universities throughout the island (Chang Gong University and National Taiwan Normal University in Taipeh; National Taichung University and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan).
Stoffregen and associates publish in Ecological Psychology
“Effects of Visual Tasks and Conversational Partner on Personal and Interpersonal Postural Activity,” by Thomas A. Stoffregen, M. Russell Giveans, Sebastian J. Villard, and Kevin Shockley, has been accepted for publication in Ecological Psychology. The experiments were conducted by Dr. Giveans as part of his doctoral project under the guidance of Professor Stoffregen. Dr. Villard served as a post-doctoral fellow in APAL in 2007-2009.
Undergraduate students awarded UROP for Spring 2013
Amy Malsch, Jennifer Webeler, and Hannah Walsh have each received a competitive award under the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to conduct research under the mentorship of a School of Kinesiology faculty member.
Malsch and Webeler will work with Tom Stoffregen, Ph.D. Their research project concerns sexual dimorphism and susceptibility to motion sickness, and will be carried out in the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory.
Walsh will join the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory and work with Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D. The title of her project is Implementing Feedback Control for a Passive Motion Apparatus. This apparatus is used in the lab to measure body awareness (proprioception).
Gao publishes paper on the impact of exergaming among children
Dr. Zan Gao, assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology, recently published an article as the lead author in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness on exergaming, which are activities involving exercise-based video games.
Dr. Chaoqun Huang, assistant professor at Wayland Baptist University (Texas) and former advisee of Gao, is the second author on the article. The other co-authors are previous visiting scholars from Shanghai, China.
Continue reading “Gao publishes paper on the impact of exergaming among children”
Yu, Chung, Hemingway, and Stoffregen published in Gait & Posture
Authors Yawen Yu, Hyun-Chae Chung, Lauren Hemingway, and professor of Kinesiologyr Dr. Thomas A. Stoffregen, were recently published in Gait & Posture. Their contribution is titled: “Standing body sway in women with and without morning sickness in pregnancy.”
Dr. Yu received her Ph.D., in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota, working in APAL under Stoffregen’s guidance. Dr. Chung spent a year in APAL as a visiting scholar. Ms. Hemingway was an undergraduate research assistant in APAL, where she was supported by a UROP award. She now works at 3M.
Ji delivers a trio of keynote lectures while in China
Li Li Ji, Ph.D., director of the School of Kinesiology and director of the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science, had a busy schedule on a recent 11-day trip to China, presenting three different keynote lectures.
Continue reading “Ji delivers a trio of keynote lectures while in China”
CEHD features Kinesiology PhD student Greg Rhodes
Greg Rhodes, PhD student in Kinesiology, is featured on the CEHD home page, in the article, “The Science of Endurance,” written by Kinesiology’s communications specialist, Molly Augustin. The story details Rhodes’ discovery of his passion and interest in the science of exercise at an early age, when he first visited the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science as a high school student. In addition to studying for his doctorate and working as a graduate assistant, Rhodes engages in a demanding training regimen that took him to Madison, WI last summer to compete in his third Ironman, where he finished 69th out of a field of 2800 participants.
Rhodes is advised by Dr. Stacy Ingraham and Dr. Arthur Leon.
LaVoi on Bay Area speaking tour
Dr. Nicole LaVoi embarks Thursday, November 15, on a three-day Bay Area speaking tour discussing aspects of the status of girls and women in sport 40 years after the passage of Title IX.
LaVoi will be speaking Thursday evening at California State University, East Bay. She will then travel Friday to the University of the Pacific where she will speak to the student body on media representations of female athletes and meet with the sport pedagogy club. Saturday she will give a keynote to a group of all-female water polo coaches hosted by Stanford University.
Kane, LaVoi, and Lisec to present at NASSS
Dr. Mary Jo Kane and Dr. Nicole LaVoi, along with Dr. Janet Fink from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will be presenting their paper, “Exploring Elite Female Athletes’ Interpretations of Sport Media Photographs: A Window into the Construction of Social Identity and ‘Selling Sex’ in Women’s Sports” at the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) annual conference in New Orleans, LA, November 7-11. Also presenting, sport sociology doctoral student John Lisec will share his paper, “What’s New About New Media? Re-Examining Methodologies for Reading Sport Critically in the Digital Age.”
Stoffregen presents at UMD’s Large Lakes Observatory
On November 5, Tom Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in Kinesiology, gave an invited colloquium at the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The title of his talk was, “Getting your sea legs: The horizon, the body, seasickness, and mal de debarquement”.
Continue reading “Stoffregen presents at UMD’s Large Lakes Observatory”
Ph.D. students’ marathon prep studies featured in The New York Times
In preparation for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, The New York Times featured the research of three doctoral students, Patrick Wilson (PI), Greg Rhodes, Chris Lundstrom, and their advisor Stacy Ingraham, Ph.D., in a piece titled “How to Carbo-Load for a Marathon.”
Continue reading “Ph.D. students’ marathon prep studies featured in The New York Times”
Two alumni featured on CEHD Career Services Blog
Two Physical Education Initial Teacher Licensure Program alumni were recently featured on the College of Education and Human Development’s Career Services blog in a series called, Success Stories. Megan Braun and Jodi Schmitz were interviewed about their paths to their current employment. Megan is currently a Physical Education and Health teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools System, while Jodi is a Physical Education teacher at an International School in Sweden.
You can learn more about these exemplary students’ stories here: [Megan] & [Jodi].
Gao presents on exergaming to U of MN Division of Epidemiology and Community Health
Zan Gao, Ph.D., assistant professor of kinesiology, delivered a presentation to faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (EpiCH) at the University of Minnesota on October 26th. Gao explored the impacts of different externally funded exergaming programs on children’s psychosocial attributes, physical activity participation, fitness performance and academic achievement.
Exergaming is a term used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Popular exergames include Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Fit.
Weiss delivers Distinguished Lecture at Texas State University
Maureen Weiss, professor of kinesiology, was named the Brennan & Smith Distinguished Lecturer at Texas State University for Fall 2012. Weiss’ presentation, “Positive Youth Development Through Physical Activity: Promoting Social, Psychological, and Behavioral Competencies,” was given to over 500 attendees on October 18, 2012, including university faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, and community members in the region.
Continue reading “Weiss delivers Distinguished Lecture at Texas State University”
Dengel to serve as faculty adviser on ICI grant
Donald Dengel, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology, will serve as the faculty advisor on a four-year, $600,000 grant housed in the Institute of Community Integration. The grant, Partnership in Wellness: A Training Curriculum for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, focuses on adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities who require ongoing daily supports, have limited readings skills, and would benefit from learning about improved nutrition and activity. The project is delivering a research-based, universally-designed, health promotion curriculum that addresses the unique learning needs of this population.
Pat Salmi, Ph.D., is the co-Principal Investigator of the grant.