PhD in Kinesiology - Sport and Exercise Psychology Major
Doctoral Student Profiles
Elizabeth Aumand (eaumand(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Elizabeth is a 5 th year student in the WVU doctoral sport and exercise psychology program. She is currently abroad in Melbourne, Australia where she is teaching Advanced Sport Psychology and Exercise Psychology classes to undergraduate students at Australian Catholic University. Her research interests include satisfaction and enjoyment in sport, team dynamics, gender and sport, and youth sport. A native of upstate NY (Massena), she obtained a BA at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, double majoring in Psychology and English while participating on the colleges swimming and crew teams.
Michelle Bartlett (Mibartle(at)aol.com)
Michelle is originally from Long Island, NY. She graduated from Syracuse University in 2003 with a B.S. in both biology and psychology. Here at WVU, Michelle is a 4th year doctoral student in sport psych and a master's student in counseling. Her GA is within the Dept. of Biology as a teaching assistant. Michelle's professional goals include counseling athletes in injury rehabilitation and stress management, as well as teaching at the university level. Her personal interests include traveling, weightlifting, skiing/snowboarding and pretty much all sports- playing, coaching or watching.
Katherine Cowan (kcowan(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Katie is a 2nd year doc student by way of Kansas, Ithaca, NY, and Providence, RI. She just finished coaching at Cornell for the past two years with their women's swim team after finishing her Master's in Sport Psychology at Ithaca. Now, she's a Swiger Fellow in the SEP program and teaching SEP 272 (Intro Sport Psych) in her first semester. The water is Katie's best friend.
Jessica Creasy (jcreasy(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Jessica is originally from Winchester, VA, and graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in both psychology and sociology. She is a certified health and fitness instructor with the American College of Sports Medicine, and worked as a personal trainer in the DC/MD area for the past 2 years. Jessica and her better half Justin recently bought a "fixer-upper" in Morgantown, and all of their free time will now go to making it presentable. However when not ripping something out or tearing something down, she enjoys cooking, hiking with her dog, and her obsession, running. Jessica completed the Baltimore marathon in 2005, and hopes to run another in the future. She is a Swiger fellow, and has interests in depression and exercise, injury rehabilitation, and exercise adherence.
Kimberly Crowell (Kimberly.Crowell(at)mail.wvu.edu)
My name is Kimberly and I am currently a first year doctoral student in Sport & Exercise Psychology and a first year master's student in Counseling. I am orginally from West Jordan, Utah. I completed my undergradute degree in 2003 in athletic training at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I worked as a Certified Athletic Trainer at a local high school for 3 years. I then attended Indiana University-Bloomington where I earned my MS degree in Applied Sport Science with an emphaisis on sport psychology. My research interests include psychological aspects of injury, team building/motivation and team dynamics. In my free time I enjoy volunteering at the local animal shelter and doing anything that includes the outdoors like boating, camping and hiking.
Adrian Ferrera (aferrera(at)mix.wvu.edu)
I am a first- year doctoral (2008) student and
W.E.B. DuBois fellow (duties are teaching and service to the
university) from Fontana, CA. I completed my M.Ed in Counseling and Sport Psych at Boston University
(2007) and my undergrad B.S. in Psychology from University of La Verne (2006). My research interests include athlete transitions, coach/athlete relationship, and youth sports
My other interest are playing all sport, but I specialize in basketball. I also enjoy surfing (in Califoria of course),
snowboarding, skateboarding, skydiving, river surfing, weight lifting,
and any other physical activity where there are potentially
dangerous/hazardous risks.
Brandyn Fisher (bfisher(at)mix.wvu.edu)
My name is Brandyn Fisher and I am a 3rd year doctoral student in Sport and Exercise Psychology and in the master's program in counseling. I completed my undergraduate degree at West Virgnia University in Psychology a couple years ago. My research interests include youth sport violence and aggression, anxiety issues in sport, and psychological aspects of injury in sport. I currently call Baltimore, MD home, but consider myself an Ohio boy at heart, growing up outside the Columbus region (Go Buckeyes). I enjoy long walks in the park and candlelight dinners....I mean playing and coaching tennis, skiing, the beach, watching the Ravens and Orioles, and hanging out with friends and family.
Sean Fitzpatrick (sfitzpat(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Sean Fitzpatrick is a 2nd year student in the Sport and Exercise Psychology Doctoral program. Originally from South Bend Indiana, Sean graduated from the SEP undergraduate program here at WVU in May. Sean’s GA is through the Physical Education Teacher Education program teaching a motor development class and assisting in various research projects. Sean’s personal research interests lie mostly in exercise psychology, dealing with issues ranging from motivation to exercise adherence. Sean also has great interest in youth sport. Sean is currently searching for a new hobby to help occupy his time outside of school; any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Joe Frontiera, M.S. (jfrontiera(at)yahoo.com)
Joe Frontiera, originally from Sacramento, CA, graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Psychology in 1997. While there, Joe competed for three years in crew, helping SCU to place in both the San Diego Crew Classic and the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. After graduation, Joe entered corporate America as a sales associate for numerous companies in the Silicon Valley. Now a third year student in the combined doctoral sport and exercise psychology program, Joe is a graduate assistant with the International Center for Performance Excellence. Joe has career goals of starting a private practice that helps elite athletes, coaches and teams, and he would also like to teach at the college level. His interests include performance enhancement, team building, illness/injury, confidence, sport psychology principles in business, and most importantly, representing the West Coast in an East Coast dominated program. In his spare time, Joe enjoys basketball, guitar, golf and playing outside.
Dan Leidl, M.A. (dleidl(at)yahoo.com)
Dan is a 3rd year doctoral student, and is enthusiastic about further developing his ability to interact with athletes while assisting them to work through motivational and confidence concerns. Dan has coached lacrosse at the collegiate and high school level for seven of the past eight years, and most recently completed a four year experience as the first assistant for the C. W. Post women's lacrosse team on Long Island. In addition to coaching, Dan has also played lacrosse at a variety of competitive levels, and enjoys writing and film. Dan graduated from Drew University with a BA in English and Philosophy, and received an MA in Child Development from Tufts University.
Kristen Kovaleski (lefty2614(at)comcast.net)
Kristen or “Kovy” to some is an enthusiastic first year doctoral student in the Sport & Exercise Psychology program here at WVU. Born and raised in Mechanicsburg, PA, Kristen received her B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Family, Children, and Youth from Bloomsburg University. While at Bloomsburg, Kristen was a member of the varsity softball team and also made a few appearances (one involving a helicopter) as “Roongo” the BU husky mascot. Kristen’s GA is through the WV Motor Development Center and working with the Choosy Kids Club. Her research interests are subject to change but currently include: motivation, anxiety and performance, coping with stress, and athletic burnout. Kristen enjoys many different facets of life and is eagerly anticipating becoming a first time aunt in the very near future.
Samantha Monda (smonda(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Samantha is a 2nd year student in the Sport & Exercise Psychology Doctoral Program and the CHAMPS/Lifeskills instructor at WVU. A Pittsburgh, PA native, Sam received a B.S. in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University where she competed in collegiate swimming for 4 years. Sam's research interests change daily but include leadership, athlete stress and coping, & professional issues in sport psychology. Professionally, she hopes to do a combination of counseling athletes & teaching. In her free time, Sam coaches for a local youth swimming club, cooks gourmet, & cheers on her athletically gifted younger brother. To her, no sports team can compare to the Steelers, but the Mountaineers are starting to look pretty good.
Alessandro Quartiroli, M.S. (aquartir(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Ale is a first year doctoral student in the SEP program at WVU. Just "off the boat", he comes from Milan (Italy) where he has coached basketball for many years at different levels and with different ages. He has studied in Milan, Madrid (Spain), and now in Morgantown since 2005. After having taught Italian for two years at WVU (awesome experience!!!!!), he is actually working with the Game for Health project's staff. He loves to engage in sport and social activities with friends. Although he adores his own culture, he is always looking for meeting new people (from everywhere and every culture), to make new friends, and to share different experiences. His primary goals are to become a college/university professor and a researcher in the SEP field, even if he considers that getting more and more involved in the applied work is definitely not bad! His areas of interest are many, some examples include: coaching, cohesion and leadership; psychometric and survey development; cultural sport psychology; organizational sport psychology; history of sport psychology, etc. During this first year, his first task and main work will probably be to focus on some of these interests.
Jamie Shapiro, M.S. (jshapir3(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Jamie, who loves to do handstands in cool places all over the world, is a 3rd year doctoral student in the Sport and Exercise Psychology program at WVU. Jamie is originally from NJ and received a B.S. in psychology from Brown University , where she was on the gymnastics team for 4 years (Go Bruno!). She obtained her M.S. in athletic counseling from Springfield College, where she was able to counsel student-athletes, coach the women’s gymnastics team, teach, and do research. Jamie is a recipient of the Swiger Doctoral Fellowship, enabling her to teach sport and exercise psychology classes. Her interests include psychology of sport injury, counseling student-athletes, performance enhancement, education and prevention of the female athlete triad, and learning life-skills through sport. Her professional goal is to teach at the college level while counseling and consulting with teams and athletes. Jamie enjoys traveling, working out, watching TV, going to the beach, attending concerts, and spending time with friends and family.
Meredith Smith (msmith56(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Meredith Smith, also known as Mimi, is a third year doctorate student in the Sport and Exercise Psychology program and is also pursuing a Masters in counseling. She graduated from Lafayette College, in Easton, PA, with a BS in Psychology in 2003. Originally from Connecticut, she worked at Yale University for two years after graduation as a research assistant at the Center for the Study of Learning and Attention. Mimi was a competitive swimmer and still enjoys swimming. Her assistantship is with Games for Health, which is examining the effectiveness of Dance Dance Revolution within schools to promote physical activity in an attempt to improve childhood obesity. Her current research interests are wellness and the use of physical activity, mainly yoga, on overall mental health and well-being. Another research interest is burnout and the development and prevention of burnout. Personally, she enjoys hiking, yoga, traveling, camping, sailing, and being with family and friends.
Eric Steege (eric.steege(at)gmail.com)
Eric Steege, originally from Madison, WI, graduated from St. Olaf College in 2004 with a BA in Psychology and Biology and a minor in Neuroscience. St. Olaf is a small, Norwegian, liberal arts college located in Northfield, MN where the sign welcoming you into town reads “ Northfield, the town of cows, colleges, and contentment.” While at St. Olaf, Eric played colligate soccer for four years. For the past two years, Eric worked as a research specialist in The Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior (Directed by Dr. Richard Davidson) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Eric is currently a first year student in the Sport & Exercise Psychology Doctoral Program. In addition, he is also pursuing a mater’s degree in counseling. He is a Swiger Fellow and teaching SEP 272 (Intro Sport Psych). Eric’s research interests lie in the influence Emotional Intelligence has on coaching effectiveness, team cohesion, and sport performance anxiety (i.e. athletes choking or thriving under pressure). His professional goal is to teach at the college level while coaching and/or consulting with teams and athletes. In Eric’s free time, he enjoys fly fishing, snowboarding, mountain biking, eating sushi, and believing he was a reggae singer in a past life.
Justine Vosloo (jvosloo(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Justine is from Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to WVU, Justine attended Southeastern Louisiana University where she graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology – Exercise Science and a minor in psychology, while playing college tennis for the Lady Lions. Here at WVU, Justine is a third year doctoral student in sport psychology and a master's student in counseling. She recently obtained her M.S. in Sport and Exercise Psychology from WVU. Justine is a graduate teaching assistant in the SEP program and teaches SEP 271 and SEP 272. Her research interests include group cohesion, performance enhancement, counseling student-athletes, gender issues and sociological aspects of sport. Her personal interests include playing and watching tennis obsessively, playing DDR, making time to play guitar more often, working out, watching TV, listening to new music, and spending time with friends.
Doctoral SEP Links:
SEP Ph.D. in Kinesiology - Sport and Exercise Psychology Major Main Page
Check out some upcoming events by visiting the SEP Calendar
Sport and Exercise Psychology Main Page
Sport and Exercise Psychology Undergraduate (B.S.) Degree
Minoring in Sport and Exercise Psychology
Doctoral Program in Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Dr. Dana Brooks, Dean
- Dr. Damien Clement
- Dr. Vanessa Shannon
- Dr. Ed Etzel
- Dr. Jack Watson
- Dr. Sam Zizzi
College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Home Page
West Virginia University Home Page
Updated 10/22/08 sb