• Although known for housing athletics, Rec Hall’s gymnasiums also have been used to hold commencement ceremonies, host the world’s largest student-run philanthropy, THON, for eight years, hold popular musical concerts and has provided an outlet for a number of world-renowned speakers to give inspirational talks to the Penn State community. Rec Hall has been and continues to be a popular stop on political campaign tours.

Faculty

Director – Melissa Bopp, Ph.D.

Faculty Bio Page

MBopp

Dr. Bopp is an associate professor of Kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University. A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, she completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick, a Masters of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Science at East Stroudsburg University, and a Ph.D. in Exercise Science from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Bopp’s area of research is understanding and promoting physical activity in diverse populations and settings. Projects in the lab focus on working in community based settings to target health behaviors and examining the impact of the social and physical environment of physical activity participation. Visit her Google Scholar profile here. Follow Dr. Bopp on Twitter @melissabopp_phd 

 

Graduate Students

Keegan Peterson, MPH

Contact information

266 Recreation Building
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 867-4277

Email: kvp5394@psu.edu

Google Scholar Page

 

 

Education:

BS, Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, 2020

MPH, Penn State College of Medicine, 2021

Research Interests:

  • Physical activity rates in underserved populations, specifically the LGBTQ+ population
  • Impact of physical activity on academic success in college students

Keegan presents his research at the annual Pennsylvania Public Health Association Conference

Undergraduate Students in the PAPH Lab

Many PAPH lab alumni (both undergraduate and graduate students) have had papers published in peer reviewed journals.

Elle Brooks (BS Kinesiology ’20): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36582591/ 

Emily Dzieniszewski (BS Kinesiology ’21) https://jkw.wskw.org/index.php/jkw/article/view/101

Anthony Rosso (BS Kinesiology ’20) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32247737/

Emily Hentz Leister (BS Kinesiology ’17) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670718307893

Nicole Vairo (BS Kinesiology ’17)  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14635240.2017.1392888

Alison Burner (BS Kinesiology ’16) https://search.proquest.com/openview/f19d60feb8de7a9377ea6c0e7add6200/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=35035

Katie Dutt (BS Kinesiology ’16) link

Shannon Larson and Ronald Greene (BS Kinesiology ’15) http://www.sciepub.com/JPAR/abstract/8381

Jesse Calestine (BS Kinesiology ’14) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bopp+calestine

Kaelah Shaffer (BS Kinesiology ’15) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bopp+shaffer

Alyssa Norton (BS Kinesiology ’12) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24089620

Rachel Velencia  (BS Kinesiology ’13) http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19325037.2014.948652#.VPh4LfnF80M

Matthew Campbell (BS Kinesiology ’12)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24512572

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23985235

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23689245

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23533450

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23449123

Presentations at National Scientific Meetings by Undergraduate Students

Faith Jasso (BS KINES ’23/MPH ’24) presents her research on bicycle policy equity at the Active Living Conference in Bethesda, MD in March 2023

Undergraduate student Anthony Rosso presents his research at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Orlando 2019

Undergraduate student Peter Matthews presents his research at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Orlando 2019

James Kauffman (BS KINES ’19) presents his research at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting in Washington DC, March 2019

BS KINES ’17 student Nicole Vairo presents her research at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity conference in Victoria, BC, Canada

 

Undergraduate student Dominique Wilson (BS KINES '16) presents her work at the Society of Behavioral Medicine conference in Washington DC.

Undergraduate student Dominique Wilson (BS KINES ’16) presents her work at the Society of Behavioral Medicine conference in Washington DC.

The PAPH Lab is proud to announce that Kaelah Shaffer, a long time PAPH lab member, has been recognized as an American Kinesiology Association Undergraduate Scholar Award Winner.

Kaeleah_SBM 2014

Undergraduate Kaelah Shaffer (BS KINES ’15) presenting her research at the 2014 SBM conference

Jesse_SBM_2014

Undergraduate student Jesse Calestine (BS KINES ’14) presenting his research at the 2014 SBM conference.

Matthew Campbell (BS KINES’12) presents his research on active commuting at the 2012 Society of Behavioral Medicine conference in New Orleans.

Matthew Campbell (BS KINES’12) presents his research on active commuting at the 2012 Society of Behavioral Medicine conference in New Orleans.

 

 

PAPH Lab Students at the Penn State

Undergraduate Research Exhibition

2022 (Back in Person!!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019

 

2018

Kines senior Danielle Jones won the information literacy award at the Undergraduate Research Exhibition

2017

2016

2016-04-06 11.00.05

2015

20150408_103022

20150408_105504

2014

Hannah_URE_2014Jesse_URE_2014Kaelah_URE_2014

PAPH Lab Alumni

Lucas Elliott, MPH, Ph.D. KINES (’22)

Google scholar profile
EducationBS, Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, 2019

MPH, Pennsylvania State University, 2021

Research Interests: 
  • The role of policy in promoting physical activity
  • Physical activity in minority, low-income, and underserved populations
  • Built environment effects on physical activity

 

 

 

 

 

Current title: Research Strategist at Rebel Research Associates

Doctoral student Lucas Elliott presenting his research at the ISBNPA conference in Phoenix, AZ in May 2022

Oliver Wilson, Ph.D. KINES (’20)

OW

Current title: Research Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington

Research interests

  • College student health and behaviors
  • Role of environment and policy on physical activity
  • Health inequities

Find his Google scholar profile here.

Oliver Wilson, KINES PhD student presents his research at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Washington DC, March 2019

Zack Papalia, Ph.D. KINES (’19)

Zack_fall 2014

Current title: Health and Wellbeing Consultant. Linkedin
Research Interests
– Exercise as Medicine
– The impact and efficacy of Workplace Wellness programs
– The relationship between activity level and academic success in undergraduate students
20150322_121026

Zack presents his research at the Penn State Graduate Research Exhibition

 

Dangaia Sims, Ph.D. (KINES 2016)

Current title: Director of Digital Analytics, Mass Mutual. Linkedin

You can view her full biosketch here.

Dangaia_SBM 2014

Dangaia presenting her research at the 2014 SBM conference

Benjamin Webb, Ph.D. (KINES 2014)
Ben_Pic_for_website

Current title: Associate professor 

Department of Kinesiology

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

 

 

 

Congratulations to Ben Webb for winning the American Public Health Association Physical Activity Section 2013 Student Poster Award in Boston

Congratulations to Ben Webb for winning the American Public Health Association Physical Activity Section 2013 Student Poster Award in Boston

Congratulations to Ben Webb for his ACSM Foundation Plus One Active Research Grant on Wellness. Project title: Walking in Faith: Physical Activity Program for Clergy

Congratulations to Ben Webb for his ACSM Foundation Plus One Active Research Grant on Wellness. Project title: Walking in Faith: Physical Activity Program for Clergy

Research Interests

  • Community-based physical activity promotion.
  • The role of faith-based organizations in physical activity promotion.
  • The role of clergy in health promotion in faith-based settings.
  • Develop and implement strategies to increase physical activity participation.

For a more complete biographical sketch, visit Ben’s page at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Benjamin_Webb2/?ev=hdr_xprf

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