Negin Riazi is graduating from UBC KIN with a PhD this Spring and will be continuing a Post Doctoral Fellowship at Brock University with Dr. Karen Patte. Her research will focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and the related impacts of school closures and reopenings on youth mental health. Negin has been selected as the graduate speaker for the School of Kinesiology Spring 2021 graduation reception.
Negin’s research studies at UBC included two main foci: children’s independent mobility and population-level physical activity initiatives, and policy-level interventions. “I was a collaborator in several research projects that focused on children’s independent mobility, active transportation, and outdoor play in the knowledge translation of the Canadian 24-Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth (5-17 years) and their Early Years (0-4 years).” Negin reflects, “I had the privilege of working with a stellar and supportive supervisor, Dr. Guy Faulkner, who encouraged the knowledge translation of our research. I was involved in the translation of the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (0-4 years) into an animated video, and the creation of a documentary on children’s independent mobility called ‘Running Free.’ We were also able to discuss seven recommendations for increasing children’s independent mobility in an article for the online newsletter, ‘The Conversation’.”
When asked if she had any words of wisdom for students who are thinking about attending grad school, Negin says “Grad school is what you make it. Get involved, collaborate, make connections with people, and push yourself to learn new things. One piece of advice I received was to find something that I loved and was interested in – waking up to go to school and work is much easier when you enjoy what you do!”
