Julia McKenna

A recent grad school graduate passionate about bridging the knowledge-to-action gap in the promotion of population-level exercise, physical activity, and wellbeing. Outside of my work, I can be found hiking, running, shooting film photography, and hanging out with loved ones!

Graduate student (2021–2024)

• Thesis title: “The COPE Trial: Evaluating the Engagement of Healthcare Workers in an mHealth Exercise App Intervention”
• Used qualitative methods to recruit, schedule, conduct, and analyse interviews with 25 BC healthcare workers to assess and evaluate participant engagement in a 12-week at-home exercise app intervention.
• Wrote a detailed report, and delivered succinct presentation synthesizing findings and discussing implications for theory, practice, and future research.
• Other collaborative research projects include West Vancouver Schools Physical Literacy Project (WAVES; 2022-2023), Tolerance of risk quantitative analysis (2022-2023), ParticipACTION App Project (2021-2022)

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2021–2023)

• Courses: KIN 205 (Research Methods in Kinesiology), KIN 363 (Leisure, Sport, & Popular Culture), KIN 342 (Creating Effective, Developmentally Appropriate, Physical Activity Learning Environments), KIN 464 (Health Promotion), KIN484B (Advanced Seminar in Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Health)
• Assisted course leads in several areas including conducting weekly discussion sessions to facilitate student understanding, grading assignments, exams, and essays with detailed feedback, and fostering overall student support, learning, and wellbeing.

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2021–2023)

• Courses: KIN 205 (Research Methods in Kinesiology), KIN 363 (Leisure, Sport, & Popular Culture), KIN 342 (Creating Effective, Developmentally Appropriate, Physical Activity Learning Environments), KIN 464 (Health Promotion), KIN484B (Advanced Seminar in Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Health)
• Assisted course leads in several areas including conducting weekly discussion sessions to facilitate student understanding, grading assignments, exams, and essays with detailed feedback, and fostering overall student support, learning, and wellbeing.

• Master of Science in Kinesiology '24, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
• Bachelor of Science (Honours) '21, Specialization in Kinesiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON