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 Bartlet (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 5th year doctoral student in sport and exercise psych and a master's student in counseling. Her GA is within the Dept. of Biology as a teaching assistant. Michelle's research interests include psychoneuroimmunology, stress and health, and physical activity promotion. Her professional goals include counseling individuals in the areas of exercise adherence/ weight management and stress management, as well as teaching at the university level. Her personal interests include traveling, exercising, soccer, and going for relaxing runs on the rail trails of WV.
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 a third year doctoral student originally from Winchester, VA. She is a proud graduate of Virginia Tech (go Hokies!), with degrees in psychology and sociology. She is a certified health and fitness specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine, and previously worked in the DC/MD area training both children and adults. Jessica will be marrying the love of her life in the summer of 2009, and looks forward to the day she can officially be called "Dr. Peacock." She enjoys cooking, hiking with her dogs, weight lifting and her obsession, running. She is a Swiger fellow, and has interests in the psychological benefits of exercise, weight loss, 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)
Brandyn Fisher is a 4th year doctoral student in Sport and Exercise Psychology. He completed his undergraduate degree at West Virginia University in Psychology. His research interests include youth sport issues, college recruiting methods, and leadership. Brandyn is a certified tennis professional, earning membership in the USPTA in 2007. He is currently a volunteer assistant coach with the WVU women's tennis team. His other interests include coaching junior tennis, biking, art, hiking, and skiing.
Sean Fitzpatrick (sfitzpat(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Sean Fitzpatrick is in his third year of the doctoral program. Sean is a native of South Bend, IN and completed his undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology right here at WVU (this means Sean has been in Morgantown for 7 years!!!). Sean's main research interests are in the exercise realm of our field and in particular his thesis is investigating the effects of physical activity on cancer patients' self-efficacy for coping with cancer and quality of life. In addition to his exercise work, Sean enjoys working with athletes and coaches.
In his spare time Sean enjoys hanging out with friends, watching football, hiking, telling jokes to strangers on the PRT, and many other activities.
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 3rd year student in the Sport & Exercise Psychology Doctoral Program and the current president of the Sport Psych Graduate Student Club. A Pittsburgh, PA native, Sam received a B.S. in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University where she was a collegiate swimmer. She also received her masters degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology from WVU. Sam's research and applied interests lie in the area of student-athlete development, including the development of life skills through sport, leadership, stress & time management, academic success, performance enhancement, youth sport, and mental well-being. Sam is the CHAMPS/Lifeskills graduate assistant in the Department of Athletics where she teaches a lifeskills development course for first-year student athletes and a Transitioning course for senior student-athletes. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, tailgating, swimming, and spending time outside.
Laurel O'Neal (Laurel.O'Neal(at)mail.wvu.edu)
Laurel is a first year doctoral student who is originally from North Carolina. She completed her BA in Psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. During her stay in the ATL, she spent a lot of time on the soccer field (both playing and coaching), searching for the perfect outdoor restaurant patio, and appreciating the warm weather.
Laurel is currently figuring out her professional goals and research interests. In meantime, she spends time assisting the Dean of the College with his research (that's her GA) and reading, observing, listening and talking to as many people as will oblige. She is very excited to see where her interests take her.
Alessandro Quartiroli, M.S. (aquartir(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Ale is a second 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. He taught Italian for two years at WVU (awesome experience!!!!!), he worked with the Game for Health and now he cooperates with the great staffs of Braxton and Brooke residential halls. He loves to engage in sport and social activities with friends, and he enjoys tremendously being involved in WVU from many different points of view. 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 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! He finally narrowed down his areas of interest in professional issues, psychometric and survey development; cultural sport psychology; and history of sport psychology (even if many other could be listed).
Jamie Shapiro, M.S. (jshapir3(at)mix.wvu.edu)
Jamie, who loves to do handstands in cool places all over the world, is a 4th 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 was a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the SEP program in the fall and is now a recipient of the WVU Dissertation Fellowship, enabling her to focus and work diligently on her dissertation in order to graduate in May! Her main research interest is the psychology of sport injury and recovery, and 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, and spending time with friends and family.
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 fourth 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 professional issues, coaching, group cohesion, performance enhancement, counseling student-athletes, gender issues and sociological aspects of sport. Her personal interests include playing and watching tennis, 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 1/22/09 sb