Welcome to the 2025/26 Winter edition of Kinnected!

KINnected is the School of Kinesiology's biannual Faculty and Staff Newsletter, published every mid-February and mid-September. For more frequent updates, follow @ubckin on Instagram and keep an eye on our website; kin.educ.ubc.ca.

Move to the Gateway Health Building

In January 2026, the School officially relocated many of its offices and activities to the new Gateway Health Building (5955 University Boulevard).

Outreach programs and some classes remain in their original locations and are expected to complete their move by Spring 2026.

This exciting transition supports better integration of research, teaching, and community engagement. Thank you to everyone who made this move possible!

Drs. Mark Carpenter and Romeo Chua, who have been providing interim leadership as Co-Directors since July 1, 2025, have generously agreed to extend their appointments through to June 30, 2027.

February 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of Move UBC - an annual campaign to promote movement and physical activity across campus.

Dr. Andrea Bundon's KIN 464 class has had long involvement with the Move UBC campaign and was recently featured in the 10 Years, 10 Stories media release.

Dr. Janice Forsyth, SSHRC Partnership Grant

Congratulations Dr. Janice Forsyth for receiving a $2.5M SSHRC Partnership Grant with Indigenous Hockey Research Network (IHRN).

Dr. Hyosub Kim, B.C. Knowledge Development Fund

Congratulations to Dr. Hyosub Kim and the Computational Sensorimotor Learning lab who received funding through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF). 

Dr. Mark Beauchamp, UBC Distinguished University Scholars Award (2025)

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Beauchamp who has received a UBC Distinguished University Scholars Award (2025), recognizing outstanding achievement in research and/or teaching. 

Beyond the Rink: Behind the Images of Residential School Hockey, named one of Indigo's Top 10 Best Regional Books of 2025 (Ontario)

Congratulations to Dr. Janice Forsyth, co-author of Beyond the Rink: Behind the Images of Residential School Hockey, which has been named one of Indigo's Top 10 Best Regional Books of 2025.

Dr. Erica Bennett and PhD student Kassi Welch travel abroad for the INCLUDE Project

This past summer, Dr. Erica Bennett and PhD student Kassi Welch travelled to Basel, Switzerland and Barcelona, Spain as part of the Forum Basiliense, to participate in the INCLUDE project - a three-year longitudinal study examining how gender, climate change, and urbanization influence physical activity experiences among older adults living with respiratory illness.

How a Robotic "Body-Swap" Reveals the Brain's Processing of Space and Time

What if a robot could show us how the brain keeps us balance? The Balance and Falls Research Centre built one, and their discovery could help shape new ways to reduce fall risk for millions of people.

2025 Report Card on Physical Activity for Adults

ParticipACTION’s 2025 Adult Report Card on Physical Activity - the most comprehensive evaluation of physical activity in Canada - launched on November 19.

Dr. Guy Faulkner is a member of the ParticipACTION Report Card Research Committee. Read a summary of the findings here.

UBC President toured ICORD

In November 2025, the UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon toured ICORD. Dr. Andrea Bundon led the group through the Yuel Family Physical Activity Research Centre (PARC).

Motor Skills Laboratory, Soccer Pathways Project

The Motor Skills Lab, under the supervision of Dr. Nicola Hodges, has published the first of three papers on the Soccer Pathways Project in Science and Medicine in Football. This first paper is a snapshot of the activity histories of the over 200 athletes who took part in this study.

Grace Schouten and Dr. Jasmin Ma, UBC's 2025 Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund

Congratulations to Dr. Jasmin Ma and KIN alumna Grace Schouten, for receiving UBC's Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund.

Their project provides fitness leaders with continuing educations credits with the aim of improving accessibility of community recreation spaces and services for people with disabilities across British Columbia.

Carmen Golnaraghi, UBC's StEAR Enhancement Fund

Congratulations to Carmen Golnaraghi (suprv. Dr. Erica Bennett), who has been recognized for her proposed project, UBC TogetherActive: Supporting Connections Through Accessible Recreation.

Her project is a campus-wide pilot program that helps UBC students with visual impairments take part in campus recreation, fitness classes, gyms, and sport leagues. 

Viviana Shiffman, Green Labs Fund

Congratulations to Viviana Shiffman (suprv. Dr. Bill Sheel), who received funding through UBC Green Labs initiatives for sustainability for her project, Nitrile Neutral. 

The funding she has received and their lab recycling has saved over 2,700 gloves from going to the landfill. Expect a web feature of her project on our website soon.

UBC Active Kids recently received a $100,000.00 equipment donation with the support of Deanna McIntyre. This donation will be used for the new Active Kids gym in the Gateway Building.

Other highlights include hosting the All Youth Matter Inclusion Training in Fall 2025, collaborating with Dr. Jasmin Ma's KIN 351 course and Dr. Andrea Bundon's KIN 464 course, and launching pilot programs in line with their move to Gateway in the spring, with plans to be fully operational by May 2026.

UBC BodyWorks is launching a new older adult program (55+) in the Gateway Building called Legacy Strength. 

In other news, capacity for the Changing Aging program is increasing at Marpole Oakridge community center, and is expected to expand further with the opening of the new senior's center at Sunset Community center.

Student Awards Night 2026

In January 2026, we celebrated our undergraduate and graduate student award winners with a certificate presentation, live music, and catering. Take a look at the photos here.

UBC Exercise, Kinesiology and Health Seminar Series

UBC KIN hosted Dr. Jason Laurendeau and Dr. Joe Baker for the UBC Exercise, Kinesiology and Health Seminar Series.

Past seminar recordings can be viewed in the link above.

Dr. Michael Koehle, Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging Seminar

In November 2025, Dr. Michael Koehle presented his talk on "Staying Physically Active During Heat and Air Pollution" at the Dialogue on Aging public talk series.

Crowdfundraising UBC: Boosting Depression Recovery with Exercise & Brain Stimulation

Dr. Guy Faulkner and PhD student Dasha Sosna from the PopPA lab are piloting an innovative approach that combines physical activity snacks—short bursts of movement lasting just 15 minutes—with a one-day, accelerated course of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), a noninvasive brain stimulation therapy proven to help depression.

Ongoing Collaboration between YASC and UBC KIN

January 19-23 2026 marked the second year of collaboration between UBC and the Yukon Aboriginal Sport Circle (YASC) to engage UBC students in Arctic Sports. Dr. Janice Forsyth hosted returning instructors, Eric Porter and Emily King, and YASC Executive Director, Gael Marchland for this EDID initiative.