Alumni

I started my undergraduate at UWA straight after high school. After completing a BSc (Human Movement and Exercise Science), I enrolled in the Exercise Rehabilitation postgraduate course to became an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP). Following completion, I got a job working at the School of Human Sciences in Exercise and Sports Science and as an AEP, which has been a great opportunity to grow my clinical skills.

The School has also provided great opportunities to work in the paediatric programs at UWA and as a research assistant, which is what piqued my interest in research. A couple of years later, I decided to embark on a PhD journey (which I hope to complete in 2018), while continuing to work clinically and teach in exercise physiology courses.

My passion is to educate people on the benefits of exercise and how we can all take steps to improve not just our physical health but also our mental health. I’m incredibly lucky to have a job that allows me to work in such a rewarding area and make a difference in the lives of people across a large age range, from 4 to 90+, from a variety of life circumstances.

Being at UWA keeps me at the forefront of up and coming research but, more importantly, the links we have to the community allow us to translate and integrate our research into community programs and the education of future exercise professionals.

My research work is focused broadly on exercise interventions for the physiological and/or psychological benefit of children and youth. My PhD is looking at how best to do this within the Thriving Physical Activity Program for Kids + Youth. We are just about to launch the Thriving Families intervention to help families improve children's physical capacity and confidence to participate in physical activity.

In addition to my PhD, I assist in research on the benefits of exercise in youth who have substance use and mental health disorders. This is a challenging but fantastic group to work with and, given how prevalent mental health disorders are in our society, it is an area gaining increasing attention. The research team is expanding our knowledge on the role of exercise in well-being and how we might translate our initial findings into outreach programs, including services in rural and remote areas. That is very exciting.

The School of Human Sciences has several community based programs, of which I’m primarily involved in the Exercise and Performance Centre and the Thriving Physical Activity Program for Kids + Youth . These community programs provide a supportive and positive environment for children and youth to develop and explore physical activity. We cater to a range of children and youth who may have barriers to participating in physical activity at school or in the community for any number of reasons. By engaging with different groups, I hope to continue to educate kids, youth and families on the importance of physical activity, helping to decrease the barriers they face to participation.