Students posing in front of poster during Research Day 2024

Research Day highlights students and science

The annual event gives students the chance to connect with other researchers within and outside of FKRM.

May 16, 2024 —

Students and faculty filled the Active Living Centre Agora on May 14 to celebrate Research Day. This annual event allows guests to share and learn about research happening within the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management.

UBC Okanagan’s Dr. Heather Gainforth, this year’s keynote speaker, says events like Research Day were one of her favourite things about her graduate experience.

“It’s a special moment where you go across disciplines and share what everybody’s been working on,” Gainforth says. “It’s nice to have these moments that milestone your degree.”

Research Days hosts the annual poster competition, in which undergraduate and graduate students prepare posters summarizing their work. They also give a three—to five-minute talk about their research and answer questions from a judging panel.

According to Gainforth, the opportunity to learn about research outside of your own can build meaningful connections in the community.

“Events like today help you understand why the person in the lab next to you is spending their time doing what they do. It creates a respect for each other.”

Guests started their morning outdoors on an Indigenous history, culture and nature walk led by Dr. Brian Rice. The first session of the day had Dr. Christine Van Winkle, joined by PhD students Kiri Shafto and Lesley Gaudry, on stage to discuss her ongoing international project about community resilience and recovery following disasters. They spoke about lessons they have learned during community data collection research.

Five PhD students also participated in the Three-Minute Thesis competition (3MT), in which each student had three minutes to present their research in plain language with a single slide to illustrate their topic.

Gainforth keynote presentation shared her work on meaningful engagement in research. She summarized evidence on research partners and discussed different considerations for supporting, fostering and maintaining research partnerships.

“The people and the relationships in science are so important,” says Gainforth. “Someone might do their science a little differently because of today or think differently because of something they heard today.”

Gainforth said she sees something very special happening within the faculty, with the entire community not just stating they care about their values but putting them into action, with all of Research Day representing a “deep care for engagement, inclusion and creating belonging and connection.”