Director – Melissa Bopp, Ph.D.

Faculty Bio Page

Dr. Bopp is a 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 LinkedIn or BlueSky @melissaboppphd.bsky.social

Graduate Students

Caellum Crescent

Undergraduate Students in the PAPH Lab

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

Emily Dzieniszewski (BS Kinesiology ’21): https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijes/vol17/iss8/4/

Read a story about Emily’s experience with research

Faith Jasso (BS Kinesiology ’23, MPH ’24): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275124001379

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

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.

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.

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

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.

PAPH Lab Students at the Penn State

Undergraduate Research Exhibition

2025

2024

2022 (Back in Person!!!!)

2019

2018

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

2017

2016

2015

2014

PAPH Lab Alumni

LinkedIn page

Education:

BS, Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, 2020

MPH, Penn State College of Medicine, 2021

PhD, Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, 2025

Research Interests:

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

Current Title

Cancer Prevention Fellow, National Cancer Institute

Keegan was awarded the American Kinesiology Association Doctoral Scholar Award for 2025

Lucas Elliott, MPH, Ph.D. KINES (’22)

• 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: 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

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 presenting her research at the 2014 SBM conference

Benjamin Webb, Ph.D. (KINES 2014)

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 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