Graduate Students

Jessica McNeil, President

Jessica McNeil is a second year PhD student working under the supervision of Profs. Éric Doucet and Jean-Philippe Chaput. Her research will examine the effects of sleep deprivation and alcohol intake on sleep quality, and next day energy intake and food reward.

Jessica’s responsibilities within the HKGSA include overseeing the general functions of the committee, chairing the association’s meetings, and representing the association at the School of Human Kinetics’ council meetings.

Rick Mills, VP of Executive Committee and Counsellors

Rick Mills is a 2nd year PhD student working under the supervision of Professor Heidi Sveistrup, PhD. His research examines the maintenance of balance and posture, as well as gait analysis, in both clinical and sport settings. The main focus of his work over the next few years will investigate the effectiveness of using virtual reality as a rehabilitative modality in children with cerebral palsy, specifically utilizing the newly acquired CAREN platform system.

Rick’s responsibilities within the HKGSA include delegating and supervising tasks of the association councillors and executive members, retrieving emails from the HKGSA account and voicing opinions/concerns raised within these emails, and representing the association at the School of Human Kinetics’ graduate council meetings.

Mike Borghese, VP Communications

Mike Borghese is a 1st year MSc student working under the supervision of Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput. His research will examine the interactions between sedentary behaviours, such as screen time, food intake, and adiposity.

Mike’s responsibilities include taking minutes from the association’s meetings, sitting in on the graduate committee meetings, and sending emails to the association’s members.

Isabelle Thibert, VP Finance

Isabelle is a first year student in the MHK- sport management program.

Isabelle’s responsibilities include the proper management of the association’s funds, seeking internal and external funding strategies, and preparing a yearly budget for the association.

Taylor Prichard, VP Social/Masters Representative

Taylor Prichard is in his first year of the MHK Sport Management program. He is interested in pursuing a professional career with a top tier professional sports organization or within the university ranks (CIS or NCAA).

Taylor’s responsibilities include acting as a social and sporting event manager, as well as leading event marketing and promotion strategies for the association.

Angela Alberga, VP Social/PhD Representative

Angela Alberga is a 4th year PhD candidate working under the supervision of Drs. Glen Kenny and Denis Prud’homme. Her research examines the effects of different exercise modalities on the metabolic health of overweight and obese adolescents.

Angela’s responsibilities within the HKGSA include helping with recruitment, planning, fundraising and advertising of social events within our department. Angela’s responsibilities include acting as a social and sporting event manager, as well as leading event marketing and promotion strategies for the association.

Kyle Rich, VP Academic/Masters Representative

Kyle is a 2nd year M.A. student working under the supervision of Dr. Audrey Giles. In partnership with the Canadian Red Cross, his thesis project involves developing, piloting, and evaluating a cultural safety training module for instructors of the Canadian Red Cross Swimming and Water Safety Program.

Kyle’s responsibilities involve organizing academic events, notably the annual graduate student research conference. 

Michael Carter, VP Academic/PhD Representative

Michael Carter is a PhD candidate working with Dr. Diane Ste-Marie in the Psychomotor Behaviour Laboratory. His general research interests include how the brain learns and controls movements. His dissertation is investigating the fundamental cognitive processes underlying the learning benefits of learner-controlled feedback schedules.

Michael’s responsibilities involve organizing academic events, notably the annual graduate student research conference. 

Biophysical Sciences Councillors

Alexandrine Frappier is a 1st year MSc student working under the supervision of Denis Prud'homme.

Martin Poirier is a 1st year MSc student working under the supervision of Professor. Glen Kenny, PhD. His research will examine the effect of short-term heat acclimation on whole-body heat content in the younger and older population.

Psychosocial Sciences Councillors

Lauren Brooks is a 1st year MA student working under the supervision of Dr. Audrey Giles. Her research examines culturally safe physical activity programs for older Aboriginal peoples in the NWT.

Katrina Zanetti is a 1st year MSc student working under the supervision of Dr. Blaine Hoshizaki. Her research examines the reconstruction of traumatic brain injuries using finite element modelling and biomechanical analysis in order to correlate impact location with post-injury symptoms.

Sport Management and Administration Councillor

Maxine Myre

Intervention and Consultation in Sport Councillor

Marie-Ève Foster Marie-Eve Foster is a first year student in the Master’s of Human Kinetics program (M.H.K.).

PhD Councillor

Deborah  Jehu is a first year PhD student working under the co-supervision of Drs. Yves Lajoie and Nicole Paquet. Her workaims to generate new insights into the improvement of the age-related deficits to the balance control system.  Specifically, her work will examine a dual-task intervention to improve gait in older adults.