KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 29, 2025 – The Department of Kinesiology in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Health Sciences had a major presence at New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM) fall meeting at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, earlier this month.

URI students and faculty stood out among the 700 attendees from more than 20 institutions, earning top awards for their academic accomplishments, outstanding research, and impressive presentations.

Among the most prestigious recognitions, Melissa Lodge, a Ph.D. student in health sciences with a concentration in kinesiology, was awarded the Linda S. Pescatello Doctoral Scholarship, receiving a $1,000 award for her academic excellence and research contributions. The native of Hopkinton, Massachusetts is mentored by Christie Ward-Ritacco, associate professor and graduate program director.

“As Melissa’s advisor and mentor, I have worked with her since the summer of 2022 and have been impressed with her independence and dedication in pursuing her research goals related to women’s health,” said Ward-Ritacco. “Her presentation and publication record are impressive for a young investigator, but most notably her passion for this area of research is unmatched. This scholarship reflects Melissa’s motivation and dedication to conducting and disseminating her impactful research related to female athlete physiology.”

Michelle Lim, a Ph.D. student in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program from Suwon, South Korea, earned the Lawrence E. Armstrong Academic Excellence Award, also accompanied by a $1,000 scholarship. Lim is mentored by Nicole Logan, assistant professor of kinesiology

“The Academic Excellence Award recognizes Michelle’s many accomplishments thus far in her career and encourages her continued success and productivity,” said Logan. “There are very few doctoral students who, so early in their careers, have the statistical and methodological prowess that Michelle possesses. She has received several awards and honors lately, which is emblematic of her intelligence, productivity, work ethic, and impactful contribution to our lab group.”

Logan was recognized with the NEACSM New Investigator Award, a $5,000 research grant honoring her innovative contributions to the field.

“It was a great honor to win this award,” said Logan. “To share this moment with Michelle was a wonderful testament to the productivity of our lab group.”

Logan plans to use the $5,000 to present and publish preliminary data for a project that aims to find a mechanistic biomarker of the obesity-related impacts on brain health. In 2024, Logan won the New Investigator Award at ACSM’s national conference for a research project related to physical activity for women’s psychological health.

URI’s graduate students excelled in the competitive research presentations at the conference. Hadley StCyr, a master’s degree student in kinesiology from Windham, New Hampshire, won the M.S. Student Investigator Award for her presentation titled, “Exploring Differences in Energy Availability Based on Prescribed Training Intensity in Female Athletes.” 

“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to present this project at my first professional conference,” said StCyr. “I am thrilled to see the hard work of our lab recognized.” 

StCyr’s research was co-authored by fellow URI scholars, and she was mentored by Ward-Ritacco.

“It has been a joy to watch Hadley successfully transition from an undergraduate double majoring in dietetics and kinesiology to an exceptional master’s student in kinesiology,” said Ward-Ritacco. “She did an outstanding job presenting her research findings, which revealed that female collegiate athletes do not meet sports nutrition recommendations, putting them at risk for low energy availability and related health and performance consequences.”

Other master’s students selected for the presentation competition included Kelly MacKay, from Exeter, Rhode Island,and Marialena Kalioraki, from Crete, Greece. MacKay’s shared her research on dietary supplement knowledge among NCAA athletes. Kalioraki spoke about her study of longitudinal decline in daily physical activity in smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

At the doctoral level, Lim and Janis Gaudreau, from Attleboro, Massachusetts, were selected to present in the Ph.D. Student Investigator Competition. Their research addressed the cognitive effects of cycling in patients with Parkinson’s disease and the protective role of physical activity against depression in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

URI’s presence extended to poster sessions, with multiple students and faculty presenting cutting-edge research on topics ranging from sleep and executive function in children to caffeine’s impact on resistance training. Notably, undergraduate student and Providence resident Daniel Flores, part of the Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Diversity (URI ESTEEMED) Scholarship and Education Program, contributed to a study on physical activity and academic outcomes in students with ADHD.

Some URI faculty served in NEACSM leadership roles leading up to and during the conference. Ryan Chapman served as NEACSM’s sponsorship co-chair, Logan as Rhode Island’s state representative, and Ward-Ritacco as a regional chapter representative. Additionally, professor emerita Deb Riebe co-led a symposium session on the evolution of physical fitness.