Kinesiology Graduate Students Win NEACSM Awards
Three students are recognized for research and scholarship.
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Three kinesiology students received awards and scholarships during the annual New England chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM) Fall Conference held October 13-14, 2022, in Providence, R.I.
The winners are:
- Philip Woods (President’s Cup and Student Investigator Masters Award)
- Marcos Amalbert-Birriel (Lawrence Armstrong Minority Scholarship)
- Zoe Smith (NEACSM Mark Connolly Memorial Masters Scholarship)
Master's student Philip Woods received the Student Investigator Masters Award, a $500 prize given for student presentations at the meeting, as well as the conference's prestigious President's Cup, given for the best research poster presentation at the meeting. The recognition comes with a $1,000 travel award to attend the 2023 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annual meeting being held May 30 - June 3, 2023, in Denver, Colo. There, he will represent the New England chapter and compete against the President’s Cup winners from the other 11 ACSM regional chapters.
A member of the Muscle Biology Laboratory led by Associate Professor Mark Miller, Woods won the awards for a poster titled “Stretch Activated Force Production Increases During Fatigue in Fast-Contracting Skeletal Muscle Fibers.” His research investigates the delayed increase in skeletal muscle fiber force that occurs following a rapid stretch that can improve muscle performance during repetitive cyclical contractions, such as walking, jogging, or running. His work indicates that fast-contracting skeletal muscle fibers produce more stretch activation when fatigued, potentially playing an important, and previously uninvestigated, role in reversing the effects of fatigue.
Marcos Amalbert-Birriel, a doctoral student working in the Physical Activity and Health Lab under the supervision of Associate Professor John Sirard, received the NEACSM Lawrence E. Armstrong Minority Scholarship. The $1,000 award supports and encourages professional development and academic excellence in minority students in the New England region. It is given based on academic excellence, professional experience, professional activities such as attending conferences and workshops, publication of peer-reviewed research, and skill in obtaining grants.
Zoe Smith is a master's student working in the Muscle Physiology Lab under the supervision of Professor Jane Kent. She received the Mark Connolly Memorial Masters Scholarship, a $1,000 award designed to highlight professional and academic excellence at the master’s level.
"These awards show the quality of our graduate students and the strength of our program," says Richard van Emmerik, professor and chair of the kinesiology department. "I was also quite pleased by the performance of our undergraduates at the Academic College Bowl."