Position: Owner, Live Well Exercise Clinic
Sara Hodson is an internationally certified ASM Clinical Exercise Specialist and Cancer Specialist. She is the owner and clinic director at Live Well Exercise Clinic – having opened it in 2010. Graduating with a Bachelors of Human Kinetics (Exercised Science) in 2002, Sara has gone on to spend two years working with the UBC Changing Aging Program and ten years with Fraser Health in Chronic Disease Management.
UBC Moving Minds is a free non-competitive walk/run/wheel promoting the use of breaks from work to support one’s health and well-being. This year’s event was held on May 15th and saw over 300 people come out. learn more here.
If you’re a UBC grad working on a great project at UBC or in the community that is making a difference, we want to hear from you. Share your project and get support from fellow alumni. Learn more about Your Evolution here.
Gail Wilson grew up in New Market, Ontario and received an undergraduate degree in Physical and Health Education from the University of Toronto in 1968. In 1977 she enrolled as a Master’s student in the UBC School of Physical Education and was appointed coach of the Women’s Field Hockey Team which she coached for 16 years. And in 1980, she became a faculty member in the School.
Wilson executed one of the most successful recruiting and coaching careers in UBC history. Gail’s UBC Women’s Field Hockey teams were Canada West champions in 1977-78, 1980-83 and in 90, and were National Champions five times. Gail was recognized countless times for her superb coaching abilities winning such awards as: the CWUAA Coach of the Year Award five times, the CIAU Field Hockey Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1987, the 1991 3M Canada Coach of the Year Award, and the Coach of the Year Award for both the Canadian Women’s Field Hockey and the Vancouver Women’s Field Hockey Associations. The CIS Field Hockey, Gail Wilson Outstanding Contributor Award is named in her honour and is presented to the CIS field hockey athlete who best displays athleticism and service to her teammates and to the community.
Gail is a two-time inductee into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame under the Coach and Builder categories. In 1995 she was inducted as the coach of the 1982/83 UBC Women’s Field Hockey team. It was one of the many excellent teams that Gail Wilson coached. They stood out not only because of their perfect 25-0 record, but also because they were the champions of the Vancouver City First Division and dominated at the CIAU National Championships. The team is still considered one of the greatest UBC Sports teams in the history of the university. In 2011, Gail was recognized as an honoree in the prestigious BC Sports Hall Fame ‘In Her Footsteps’ program which recognizes women who have made a significant contribution to girls and women through sport.
Gail recently retired from her position as Senior Instructor in the School of Kinesiology at UBC in 2019. This legendary UBC coach and teacher will be missed by all.
Positions:
Tasha McCrae is currently employed both as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist with Live Well Exercise Clinic and with Fraser Health in Chronic Disease Management. She holds certification as a Clinical Exercise Specialist through ACSM and a Certified Cancer Trainer through ACSM. Focused on chronic disease prevention and management through exercise, Tasha has worked in clinical settings her entire career. This has included work in hospital based Cardiac rehabilitation and the private sector. As a student of UBC’s School of Kinesiology, Tasha took part in a semester-long work placement program. After graduation, she went on to complete 600 clinical hours with Peace Arch Hospital as part of her ACSM Exercise Specialist Certification. Her class project was a proposed multi-disciplinary weight loss education class that was adopted by the health authority and allowed her to teach that class. She went on to maintain a permanent position with Fraser Health until 2010. While maintaining a casual position with Fraser Health, Tasha is currently employed part-time with Live Well Exercise Clinic working with chronic disease populations.
In my last year of undergrad, a visiting researcher from the University of Toronto visited our class at UWO and delivered a lab class on C.elegans (a microscopic nematode worm). Using fluorescent microscopy, we were able to literally watch developing neurons grow axons in-vivo… I was hooked. Watching a neuron grow and form connections is still one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen.
Research is not for everyone, but for me… it was an opportunity to be on the front lines of science and a road to greater understanding of the natural world around us.
Grad school is freedom! You get to follow your own schedule, design and plan your own experiments and make a contribution to the research. In the end, it may only be one small contribution you make, but every drop in the bucket counts.
Attending conferences is a huge perk that comes along with the freedom of grad school. You get to meet first class researchers from around the world, learn from them and ultimately make connections that are going to help you in your career.
When I finished my PhD, I knew I needed to take what I had learned in the laboratory and apply it outside the halls of academia. I was introduced to a team of technology entrepreneurs who needed someone with expert knowledge in the field of neuroscience and luckily, I fit the bill.
The brain is the single most important tool we use each and every minute of each and every day. At nognz, we have created workshops and interactive on line tools to teach people more about their amazing brains and what they can do to keep their brains healthy and thriving. We mainly work with corporations to support their wellness initiatives and leadership development programs. Teaching people about the brain and the amazing research that is going on in labs just like the one I did my work in is an incredibly rewarding experience.
Supervisor: Dr. Brian Wilson
Current Program: PhD
Research Interests: socio-political-cultural studies; social inequality with a focus on race and class; power and ‘post-politics’; environmental sociology; environmental communication; ecological democracy; media democracy; sport mega-events and society
Background: BPHE(H), 2010, Queen’s University
MA, 2013, University of British Columbia
Yoon L & Wilson B (2014) ‘Nice Korea, Naughty Korea’: Media framings of North Korea and the inter-Korean relationship in the London 2012 Olympic Games. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Published online before print September 2, 2014, doi: 10.1177/1012690214547745
Yoon L & King S (2012) “Dae-Han-Min-Guk”: The “Red Devils,” Korean Identity, and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Asian Journal of Exercise and Sport Science 9(2): 13-35.
Supervisor: Dr. Shannon Bredin
Current Program: MA in Kinesiology
