Kinesiology welcomes two 2019 Verna J Kirkness scholarship recipients

Isabella (La Ronge, SK) and Bronwyn (Cold Lake, AB) spent this week exploring the field of Kinesiology and how it can contribute to their career goals. Both students come from small communities. The Verna J Kirkness program gives the students the opportunity to experience a larger university and explore campus life.

The Kirkness program aims to “Increase the number of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students graduating from science and engineering programs in Canada”. The College of Kinesiology named this year’s theme, “Wellness through physical activity.”

“We hoped to share our knowledge about the importance of physical activity throughout our lives as part of achieving wellness. We also learned what physical activity meant to our students”, said associate professor, Alison Oates.

Throughout the week, both students wore physical activity monitors to generate data and understand how different activities affect their physical wellbeing. They completed a 2^nd year muscle physiology lab, attended a 2^nd year course on social psychological concepts that explores individual human behaviour in a physical activity context, and met with a great team of faculty and graduate and undergraduate students to learn about the research in Kinesiology. The Kirkness students learned about human biomechanics, physiology, neuroscience, development, physical literacy, and psychology to understand physical activity and wellness from different prospectives within Kinesiology.

Each student will end their week with an opportunity to present on their research and experiences throughout the week.