W. F. JAMES RESEARCH CHAIR IN THE PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES (2022-2024)
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN KINETICS
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER UNIVERSITY
Education
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Simon Fraser University, 2004, BA (Psychology and Criminology)
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University of British Columbia, 2006, MSc (Kinesiology)
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University of British Columbia, 2013, PhD (Kinesiology)
Courses Taught
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HKIN 215: Introduction to Motor Control and Learning
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HKIN 316: Special Populations from a Motor Control Perspective
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HKIN 416: Control of Human Movement
Research Interests
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Perceptual-motor behaviour
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Stimulus-response compatibility
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Joint action
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Special populations
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Electroencephalography (EEG)
I grew up on the west coast of beautiful British Columbia. It isn't really surprising that I decided to stick around to pursue my degrees there. I completed my BA in Psychology and Criminology at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2004. In the final year of my undergraduate degree, I worked as a Research Assistant in the PsychoMotor Behaviour Lab under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Weeks. Dr. Weeks had transferred from SFU's School of Kinesiology, and his expertise was motor control. After working in his lab for almost two years, he encouraged me to apply to graduate school. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I'm fascinated by the body's general ability to move and adapt to changes within it (e.g., physical injury, neurological disorder) and the environment. I'm curious to know more about how motor behaviour adapts when interacting with others. Think about a time when you moved furniture with a friend. How were you able to predict and anticipate their actions? How can two people, physically independent of each other (i.e., two separate neural systems), coordinate their actions as if a single unit? My research aims to chip away at these questions.
I'm also striving to understand better how special populations (e.g., Down syndrome, Parkinson's disease) adapt their actions differently than a typically developing population.
If you'd like to read more about some of the studies we conduct in the lab, click on the Research link in the menu above.
St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (Credit: http://www.stfxdev.stfx.ca/about/)