Unscripted in the Lab: Dr. Sands on the Science of Moving

She was mentioned on a previous episode — and now she's finally here. Dr. Colleen Sands is a professor of Biology at Franklin Pierce University, a UMass Amherst PhD in Kinesiology, and someone who has dedicated her entire academic career to understanding one deceptively simple question: why don't people move more, and what does it actually take to change that?

Ryan sits down with Dr. Sands to break down the science behind physical activity, habit, and what really happens to your body when you go from the couch to the gym — and why most people don't stick around long enough to feel it. They also get into what five years of PhD work actually looks like, what it's like teaching college students who don't always want to be in class, and the side of her life that has nothing to do with a whiteboard.

A professor. A researcher. Completely unscripted.

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Unscripted with Ryan brings you authentic stories from campus and beyond — covering sports, friendships, leadership, and the moments that shape us. New episodes air live Wednesdays at 4 PM on The Talon and are available on all podcast platforms.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

And welcome back to Unscripted with Ryan. I'm your host, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Usually we're live on the town, but my guest, um, I guess would rather be nice early in the morning. We got a nice early start. Um, she kind of she finally made it on and long awaited. Um, she's a professor here at Franco Pierce, a UMass Amherst PhD, and someone who spends a lot of her time and her career studying why we move, stuff like that, make people want to learn why we move. Um and personally, honestly, one of my favorite professors here, Miss Colleen Sands. Colleen, thanks for joining me. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Doing great. Yeah, last week of the semester. So things are pretty good. Energy's high.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

You like this podcast studio?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah, this is fancy. We were talking about it when I came in. This is nice, it's got a good view. The last time I was on a podcast, it was in a barn in the middle of the night in the middle of Texas. So this is definitely an upgrade in terms of podcast quality.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Where what were you doing in the middle of the night recording a podcast?

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Uh it was after a race I ran in Texas. It was kind of spontaneous, but it was a little, the environment was a little less high quality than this fancy setup you have here in the Fitzwater Center.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

What time was the race?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Uh it was a hundred kilometer race, so I do some long distance, so they tend to sort of finish in the middle of the night. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

So you're a runner, huh?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yes, yeah. So I I ran at UMass Amherst, and then I've continued on more sort of trail running distances since then.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Wow. Do you compete in college at all?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Or yeah, yep. So yeah, I was a student athlete. Um, so I definitely relate to a lot of the students here and their experiences, which is helpful. I understand trying to balance both the academics and the athletics. But yeah, still still an athlete now, trying my best.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So you're still you still consider yourself an athlete for sure, right? Because you're running a ton. When was the podcast in Texas?

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Well ah gosh, that was it was a couple years ago at this point, two Januaries ago. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

That's that's pretty impressive that you're still you're doing it. Yeah. Because you graduated UMass Amherst in 2018, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Yes, from undergrad. Undergrad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Undergrad. So like the normal four years.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Yep. Yeah, and then yeah, and then two years for a master's degree still at UMass, and then another about five years for the PhD. So I had a long haul at UMass Amherst.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

You took the long journey. Yes. For sure. Um, where are you and you're from Massachusetts, born and raised?

unknown 2:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yeah, I grew up in the Mount Watchuset area. So for people who ski or board there, that's my hometown.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Oh, yeah, ski there. It's like a nice cheap one. So do you do do you do any of that stuff?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

I did a lot growing up. Uh I kind of got out of it when I went to college. Just it was kind of discouraged as a student athlete to be skiing through the winters just because of injury risk. So come on.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

I mean, it is division one. You are you are a division one athlete now.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Better than me. Dang. But all right, good for you. Whatever. Um, but yeah, usually we're recording the podcast. I mean, in the in the other studio. I don't usually do a lot of episodes in here.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Oh, is this an upgrade or a downgrade?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Um, in terms of equipment, it's an it's a little bit of an upgrade for sure. Um I feel like the um that like when we're live on the radio, we have certain other equipment that you we use and uh not as compressed like this sound is. So I mean sometimes on the radio, if you get too close, it sounds like you're screaming into it. Um but hear that you're okay with that. So you got some good equipment.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

I'll try not to use my lecturing voice, my projection. I'm surprised.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

You were talking about that before. You lecture and everything, but um, I'm glad to hear that you've done this before. It makes me happy. Yeah. Um But now we're here and we have to start a little bit early in the morning. What why do we have to start early in the morning again? So it's uh I'm I'm fine with it too. I'm liking it.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Yeah, just a busy, a busy day. There's a lot of different things going on. There's uh the place that I rent in Ringe has some housing projects at the moment. So yeah, kind of in the thick of yeah, pretending to be a homeowner.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

I thought you had like a boat house, no?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Yeah, yeah. So I rent uh so my it's like a family lake house in Range. So it's a pretty fantastic setup. It worked out great that it's always been there. And so yeah, it's and it's awesome to be able to live right in Ringe because it allows me to sort of come to campus really quickly. So I get to come for a lot of weekend events or sporting games. Whereas if it was kind of a longer commute, I know a lot of faculty will drive in an hour, two hours to come to work, and that would make it a little more difficult to be at as many events as I'm able to be at.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Now you have some projects going on over there though. So some renovating or is it like fixing? Renovation. Okay, that's a good that's a good thing. That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Yeah, it's good. It's good.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Because you said it's a busy time for you right now as a professor, right? I mean, you're newer here, right? What is it? Like been like a two semester and a half. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

This is the end of the first full year here at Franklin Pierce.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

So how's it feeling?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

It's great. I the year went by really fast, but it was fantastic. I love it. So, you know, when we were speaking a bit before we started, it's a lot of work as a new faculty because you're prepping all of the courses for the first time. So you have to build all the content, all the material, all the exams, all the assignments. Um, so it's definitely a lot of extra work, but it's really great to have that foundation built now because then I get to sort of get a little more creative with things moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

I mean, yeah, I mean um definitely a busy time, but how do you balance it all? Because I mean, it's it could be stressful, I feel like, and you also lecture apparently, which I don't know how you do that, I don't know how you carry your voice for that long. I mean, I do it during broadcasting and stuff like that, but at least I have a subject that's going on in front of me while I do it. You're just going off basic knowledge, notes. I mean, you have fun doing that?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

I do. Yeah, definitely. It's been great too, because you really develop the skill of public speaking and conversation. Um, you know, and I love that. So, you know, and it's fun to get to teach things that I'm interested in and hopefully try to make it fun for the students and slide in some jokes or just little stories, and um, which is part of what's nice about sort of getting those courses done for the first time is then you get to put in more personality and some more, you know, fun and interesting aspects to it.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah, because more so the first year is like more so by the book, and then um then you can get some personality in there.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Exactly. Yeah. So that's one of my goals for the summer is to sort of make some of those classes a little more fun, a little more interactive, um, you know, and kind of play into having some smaller class sizes here where it can really be a little more hands-on and engaged.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Summer is coming up after you first. Do you have any fun plans?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Yeah, I mean, my summers are pretty, pretty fun. I get to do a lot of travel, so I spend most of the summer sort of traveling around the country. Um, I do both for personally competing at trail races and then also I'm pretty involved in working on some trail races. Um, so yeah, so I'll go, you know, I'll spend some time out west, kind of in the California, Colorado area. Um, and then a lot of time up in like the White Mountains and various parts of New England. So I feel very fortunate. Like I get to, you know, the academic schedule allows for working remotely from anywhere in the summer. So I get to be in some of the most beautiful places in the country.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

What's your most favorite place, you think?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Oh gosh, and just that I've been?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

That's a great question. Um, last summer I got to go to a race in Alaska, and that was pretty, I mean, I don't know if it was my favorite place, but it was just definitely one of the more unique landscape features, you know, just these stunning mountains that drop right into the lake. And in terms of the race, it was just, you know, so surreal. You were just up on these crazy peaks with gorgeous views, and um, it felt very it felt rather dangerous. I feel like they're just built a little different out there in Alaska, like things that we consider to be dangerous races around here on the trails. It was just, it was nothing compared to that. So um, there was like a pretty fun section where on the descent it was like a snowfield, and so you could actually sort of instead of running down it, you could actually sort of sit down and slide like on your body because it was packed down, and so you'd be going like this just ridiculous speed, just like basically sliding on your body. So yeah, so just like these crazy things that they do out there that are totally normal that just don't exist around here.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

And you tell me the Wachusit Mountains you grew up in didn't have any of this fun landscape.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

No, I mean I love I love what you said area, and I love this area. I mean, that's one of the reasons I was excited to come to Franklin Pierce was you know just the scenery, the trails, having, you know, the mountain in one direction, the lake in the other. Like that, I really love that. And I think it draws students who really appreciate that as well. So something we get to share.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

When you're running, do you ever have time to like take it all in? Like be like, wow, or you just have to be like No, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

I mean, definitely take it in. Um, you know, that's one of the reasons that I switched over to trail running, is it was just you get to be in beautiful places, and you know, all a lot of the races and training is up mountains, um, up and down mountains. So you get to, you know, climb up and get to these beautiful peaks and have lovely views and then yeah, run back down. So it's uh yeah, it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

It's awesome. So um but you you had a long journey from through through UMass. What was it like picking UMass Amherst when you were going to college and um you're getting set being the college athlete? Was it more so the recruiting process? Or was it more so that it was you know in the same state as you as the big Division I school in in uh Massachusetts? What was it? Or was it probably was both too, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Yeah, I mean, great question. It definitely was both. Um I definitely was going through the recruiting process and going on the official visits and talking with coaches, something that a lot of our student athletes can relate to. And so that definitely played a role. Um, and then I did not originally think I wanted to stay in state, but UMass Amherst was a great fit. Um, my mom was an alumni there, so it was, you know, she she was excited to see me go there, but my parents were super supportive and they let they left that decision up to me. Um and you know, I I am super happy that that was where I wound up. Um it worked out great. You know, now that I'm sort of experiencing a smaller university as a professor, I realize like there were some things that were missed in terms of that faculty student um connection type of thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah. So it's it's much different, you know, both as teaching there and being a student there. Like you are kind of just you know lost in these larger lecture classes. But my experience as a you know, student athlete, and that once it's a similar in terms of here, like a beautiful area with mountains and trails. And um yeah, so yeah, a lot of that decision came down to a combination of academics and athletics. But yeah, I was happy with it. Clearly, I stuck around there for a while.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

So you did. You got your bachelor of science there, you got your MS, your PhD, all at UMS Amphor Amherst. That's like you walk me through that decision of staying there. I mean, you was it the plan to just be there throughout all those accolades or just no, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

I think that would have felt very overwhelming to go in there knowing I was gonna be there for the next decade of my life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Was it 10 years?

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Yeah, yeah. I think it was yeah, maybe 11 years in the end.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Because you just got out of there last year.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Yes, yeah. So I came straight from PhD to Franklin Pierce. Um, but yeah, I think, you know, I came in as an undergraduate student. I was, I'd always been an athlete. And so, like a lot of the students that I teach now, I was like, how can I mix athletics with a career someday? You know, like I love this sports, athletics, activity. Um, so sort of one of the most natural career paths that a lot of people are introduced to is physical therapy. So as an undergraduate student, that was my track is I was gonna be a, you know, go to physical therapy school. And I made it all the way to the point of applying to physical therapy schools, getting accepted. Um, but right at the end of my undergraduate, I had been involved in a research lab at UMass Amherst, and I was offered a position to stay on as a summer research assistant and then continue with my master's, which as a research assistant, it's uh it's covered, so you're not paying out of pocket for anything.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Nice. And especially UMass Amherst, it's good to get that off, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah. So it was great. So I was loving the research that I was doing, and I wasn't a hundred percent sure on the PT track. And I was like, this is great. This is an opportunity to try something different without going into further debt. Um, so yeah, so I stayed on for two years for the master's, and during that time is when I got the first experience of teaching, and that's what I really fell in love with. Like I still love the research, and it's very it feels very entrepreneurial, uh, building a research lab, building a research direction. Um, but the teaching and working with students and mentorship and advising that really clicked with me. So that really prompted, okay, I could see myself doing this as a career, and to be a college professor typically requires a PhD. So then I started down the PhD track.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Was it daunting at all? Like, all right, I have to get a PhD now. Or is it like, all right, yeah, I want to be this is what I really want to do. I'm gonna I'm gonna be get a PhD.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Yeah, definitely the latter. Like, I really want to do this and it's worth it. And, you know, I think when a lot of people think about the PhD, they think about how long it takes. But also during that time, you're almost doing what you're going to be doing anyway. Like you should hopefully, you know, it's it's going to be challenging and you know, daunting, like any career that you're invested in, but it's also hopefully there's something that you're passionate about and you love about it. So, you know, even though it's a five-year time, it, you know, I I really enjoyed it. I loved it. I love the challenge of it. I love the learning. I love you know, getting to teach during that time too.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Because the PhD process, like, walk me through that. Is it is it you're you're taking class but also teaching, or what's that?

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah. So typically you take a few classes earlier on, usually like the first two years, you'll take um a few classes each semester, but they're very, very small. They're very, you know, specific to what you're interested in. So for me, that was kinesiology, like movement science.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Um, so yeah, so you'll take a couple of classes each year for the first few years, and then you take sort of exams that then progress you on to more of the research component, and then you typically spend the next few years completing an independent research study at a pretty big scale. And that's sort of what when you complete that, that's the end of your PhD. Um, but then yeah, throughout you have the opportunity to either be doing research or teaching classes. So I would typically try and do as much teaching as possible because that's what I really enjoyed. Um, so I got a lot of experience at UMass Amherst getting to teach some of the lectures um in anatomy and physiology, which is now sort of my area of specialty when it comes to teaching.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah, because I mean you got to do some big classes in there too. Those are big classes. Yeah. How many people do you think?

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Yeah, there would be about 300 students in a lecture there at UMass. So uh we would call it the fishbowl. So you would sort of stand at the bottom and then there would just be like 300 students all all like up in the standard.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Like a microphone on?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, with the microphone.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

We'll need a microphone here.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

No, yeah, yeah. Um but yeah, which is why, you know, when it came time to choose where I wanted to apply for jobs after the PhD, I definitely was looking at teaching intensive universities. So smaller places like Franklin Pierce, where teaching is emphasized, um, you know, the smaller class sizes, so that was definitely very important to me.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

To meet people like us.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Smiling everywhere. Um can I be honest? I'm not a science guy. I don't I like hearing kinesiology is definitely probably one of the first times I've ever heard it. And I'd take in chemistry and stuff in you know, in high school, whatever. But um can you talk to me like what does a PhD in kinesiology actually look like? And what is kinesiology really?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, so kinesiology, it's like the movement of the human body.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Um, so you know it, even if you don't know the word, like you were a student athlete. Okay, here you are. So this is your area of expertise too. Um but yeah, so it's a lot like an exercise science degree. So you're studying things like biomechanics, exercise physiology, physical activity. Um, and so for me, my specialty was physical activity. So our lab would study how we can help people to be more active. How do we promote physical activity? What are the health benefits of physical activity? Um so yeah, so that was kind of my area in terms of kinesiology in general.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

So you were you were science in and out your whole life, you think?

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

You ever feel like never felt like walking away from it?

SPEAKER_00 16:46

No, I love science, um, especially with the human body. You know, I think definitely some areas like chemistry was never my favorite subject, you know, some of those things, like a little more cellular, but I love like the whole human body, and I love teaching anatomy and physiology because it's something everyone can relate to, even if it's not their favorite subject. But so I sort of I see my job as how do I teach this in a way that's applicable to our lived experience.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Yeah. It brought you here to Franklin Pierce.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

The smaller classes and oh, you mentioned it before. I mean, one of my selling points I have when I'm out on the road trying to sell the school to kids, um, is that that smaller school, that smaller classroom type of feel where you get to build a connection with someone like you as a professor that um you know knows our faces and um can see when we're struggling. But um what beneficial factor you think helps you as a professor when the classes are so small?

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah, I mean it's definitely beneficial to know, you know, all the students' faces, all the students' names, their personalities, because then you can really build you tailor it, exactly. That's the perfect word. You can customize it to what you know the students are interested in and excited about. And is it a more outgoing class where they might thrive in doing presentations, or is it a more introverted class where they might thrive in doing smaller group projects? Um, so yeah, definitely having those smaller class sizes as a professor is incredibly valuable. So and it's more fun for me because I get to, you know, build connections with those students, and you know, they're absolutely delightful. They're the best part about being a professor here is the students for sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

And um, I mean, now that you said before to me before, you've always lecturing. You've built your things on lecture, you've done a lot of tests, which I tell kids we don't have, we don't take a lot of tests as students here, but you give tests, but you said you wanted to maybe lean, maybe not lean off completely of it, but like maybe lessen it down a little bit because you're get starting to get that connection with students here. Um, what are you thinking?

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, as that's part of this first year experience is learning what this is like in this environment and this university, and so seeing the opportunities for different styles of assessment rather than just sticking with traditional exams, which you know, like we spoke to at UMass Amherst, 300 students in a lecture hall, you it's hard to do individual presentations or you know, more applied projects. Um, but here that's possible, you know, and I do teach one of the larger courses at Franklin Pierce, but it's still significantly smaller. And yeah, so that's yes, yeah. So that's definitely something that I'm excited about moving forward is how do I, you know, exams could still be a part of it, but I just think there's so many different opportunities that are more helpful for the students and could potentially be building something that's more useful to them than just you know memorizing facts for an exam.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

How many people how many students are in the classroom, do you think, of yours?

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Um so this semester it's about 40 students. Um we did increase the size to 60 for next semester because there was a pretty high demand for anatomy. Um but that's I mean, that's as large as it as it gets here.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

So that is true. I mean, I don't know where fitting where where do you teach? What building?

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Um Marcusella, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Also that one classroom on the bottom floor.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Yes, yeah, the one large lecture, yeah. But the nice thing is that even though the lecture is large, I'll still have three lab sections. So I'll get to have that smaller interactive time with the students in the labs.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm sorry, but I'm like so like I'm not science at all. I was a sports media major. I like doing this stuff, and then I had to take one science, and then when I had a lab, it was just it was clearly traumatic for you. It was, Colleen, it was. I didn't I didn't like it, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

You should come back and sit in and we'll make it we'll make it a fun time. But that's helpful too. I mean, you know, you can give me the advice of what makes science classes fun or interesting or engaging for students who might not truly be interested in those fields.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Definitely lab work, probably. Yeah, honestly. Because like I said before, lecture halls are lecture halls. You're sitting in there taking notes, listening to someone talk at you, you know, and talk with you, and then feel like lab work is more interactive. Just interactive schoolwork alone. Yeah. Um definitely got me personally a long way. I don't know about like what would like yourself, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah, no, for sure. I'm definitely much more of a hands-on person.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah. So throughout your field, I'm sure there's a lot of lectures you had to sit through, especially you, Mass, where it's not you're not getting the classroom like this, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

No, yeah, yeah. It was a lot of big lecture halls to sit in, and you know, I have difficulty sitting still, and um, so definitely that was uh that was tough for me as a student too, which is helpful because then I come into that position being on the other side of it and realizing, okay, would this have been effective for me in this environment? But there's some students who love lecture and they just want to, you know, sit there and sort of receive the information. So trying to have a variety of teaching styles is helpful too.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Nice. Yeah. So I did some research on like the side stuff, right? And I hope that so you teach anatomy of uh physiology, right? Um what happens to the body when someone goes from sedentary to active and um what actually changes?

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Wow, okay, so I'm on the spot now. Um Yeah, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

I just I genuinely want to know because I don't know any of this stuff.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Yeah, I mean, definitely if you if someone goes from being completely sedentary to even slightly active, it's gonna come with a lot of health benefits. Uh the majority of those that we focus on in particular, too, are cardiovascular. So your heart health. So things like how effectively your your heart pumps out blood to the body, um, how much blood it pumps out. Um, so definitely, yeah, you'll see cardiovascular health improve, but also kind of it impacts every system of your body. So um, you know, mental health is definitely another big thing that we focus on. Uh the your endocrine system, which is things like hormones. So, you know, reducing cortisol level, which is a hormone most people know of as the stress hormone, um, increasing all your happy, feel-good hormones. Um, so yeah, so it definitely is gonna impact across the whole body, you know, mentally, physically, um, and significantly reduce the risk of longer-term chronic diseases, risk of death. So all the good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Yeah, and you're talking about the beneficial factors for moving around, but also mental health. So um obviously, like, do you think things that are good for your mental health are obviously moving and running like yourself, but also like hanging out and going out for some drinks?

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah, yeah, the social aspect completely.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Like going to Mexico.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Like going to Mexico is always what we promote for physical and mental well-being. Oh, for real though. Yeah, like and that's something we focus on in um our like in my area of research as well is physical activity not just as an independent tool, but also as how can we leverage this to improve social interaction. Um, so one thing that's pretty fun is my dissertation work at UMass Amherst. I was in a physical activity lab that focused on human-animal interaction. Um, so my dissertation was basically with puppies and kids, which was about as wholesome and happy as research can get. Um, but yeah, but we were looking at how does having a family dog improve physical activity for youth populations and does it, you know, and what health benefits come from that. But another research arm we were doing was with older adults, and how does drinking. No, but um, but yeah, but we were looking at basically if they foster or own a dog, how does that improve their health? But uh one of the big things that we saw was yes, they're getting potentially more activity walking the dog, but they're also meeting people in the neighborhood. So they're increasing social connection, social interaction.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Do you think like learning any of this stuff like helped you throughout your athletic type of field or your taking care of yourself?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Yeah, I mean, I think I one of the things that I found beneficial is looking at the longevity aspect of physical activity, you know, as a student athlete, which a lot of people here can relate to. Um, it's very easy to sort of hone in on those four years. But I think studying this and looking at how can we be active for a lifetime and how can that be sustainable in a way that's still very enjoyable, and what does that look like in a sustainable manner, I think was very important, especially in a sport like running where it can be very extreme, you know, a lot of time on feet, a lot of mileage, um, pretty demanding, pretty independent. So finding ways to make that fun, finding ways to make that social. Um, you know, so sometimes that's you know, doing a group run and then going to Mexico after.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Yeah, that's yeah, having some drinks after. Dang. I mean, honestly, I feel like I'd prosper in one of your classes. This is what your lecture halls are like, sign me up. Come on. All right, let me go. Come anytime.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Anyone's welcome.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

All right, Marcusello, is there even room for any other people to go in there?

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah, absolutely. I'll find my way in there. Yeah, you can you can come today. We're in the reproductive unit, so it's it's an extra fun way to end the semester.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Nice. And you said you have it at 11 or whatever, and you said you want to start earlier. What are you gonna do between now and then?

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, just prepping. So this is kind of office hour time. So yeah, just just prepping for the for the rest of the semester, which is fleeting right now.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

But do you get a lot of uh like visitors in your office hours? Because I know you're open to like kids coming in and saying, like, I need help with this. Do you get a lot of people?

SPEAKER_00 26:18

Yeah, yeah. Um I definitely do, and it's kind of for all sorts of different questions. You know, sometimes it's related to content, but a lot of the times it's related to other things. It's related to advising questions or career questions. You know, I am pretty open with the students about my career path and the different decisions that I've made, and they know that I was a student athlete, so a lot of the times it's related to questions like that, you know, or questions of um sort of life decisions, which you know definitely don't have it all figured out yet.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

So well, it seems like you do. You're having a good time here. Um and it being a small university, do you think kids like to take advantage of that?

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Like you're seeing you. Definitely. I see that across all the faculty, not just with me. They definitely build those connections and they'll reach out. And you know, I think that's one of the biggest advantages, and I highly encourage it.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Yeah, and you're gonna continue running? How long do you think you're gonna run for?

SPEAKER_00 27:13

Like in terms of my life? Yeah. I mean, yeah, hopefully as long as possible.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

So you're gonna compete until like the 60s, maybe?

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Yeah, I would love that. I mean, I definitely, you know, I love I love the the sport in general, and I think the trail running is hopefully, you know, something that I'll be able to do for as long as possible, you know. But I'm also I'm recently I recently acquired a gravel bike, so I've been doing some biking as well, which I feel like could be more longevity too. And dabble in some golf, you know, so that's always my fault. I'm like, if the running goes away, there's always you know the lifetime sports.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

We're gonna go golfing this semester.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Yeah, or the summer.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

The summer? I'll be around. I'll be in Keen all summer. Obviously, I'll be working here full time still, but in Keen Country Club. Keen Country Club. Well, I'm not a part of that. I mean, no, they have no they have they do have it, yeah. They have like open golf. We gotta do it.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

There's the there's a they have a connection. I think that's the new home course for the Franklin Pierce golf team.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Let's do it. Yeah, deal. We're not putting this one to the side this time, we're doing it. And we also have a Mexica trip planned. I guess we talk about Mexico way too much on the show, I'm not gonna lie. So, Colleen, before we close out, and you're looking looking at the things right now. You said you're still trying to figure it out at Franco Pierce, but what are you working on individually that you're excited about the most?

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Oh, that's a great question. I would say uh in terms of related to Franklin Pierce.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Um overall, overall, yourself. We can do both. You're yourself and Franklin Pierce.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

All right. I would say, yeah, I would say in general for Franklin Pierce, at this point I'm excited about making some of those lecture classes more creative. Now that I sort of have that foundation built, and I feel like going into the summer, there's the time to do that. Um, and it might not sound as exciting, you know, to someone who's outside of this, but to me it is. It's like, how do I take what was a generic course and make it something that's fun and entertaining, um, amusing, you know, helpful for the students? So, you know, my one of my best friends is also in education, and we always talk about, you know, that there's such a drive to make every class perfect or every class impactful and just like change the lives of the students, but that's not a reasonable goal. So what we always talk about is how do we make five minutes of the class impactful, you know, or interesting, like, you know, and the rest could be, you know, we want it to still be solid content and great content, but how do we make five minutes stand out? Wow. So that's sort of yeah, so that's sort of my goal for the summer is either you know picking a just a few classes to really make them stand out or trying to incorporate those little components into each. And you know, that's something that I have fun with because it's how do I make it something that I would have enjoyed as a student.

unknown 29:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

And personally, you're looking forward to the renovations being done seasoning.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah, yeah. And personally, I would just definitely say I do, I do really look forward to the summer travel and adventures. And, you know, it's a very different side of life than the work as, you know, in academia, the work in trail running, it's much more outdoors, it's much more physically active, but it's also incredibly social. And we just talked about the social benefits. So I feel like I get to spend all summer meeting a whole bunch of different people, a lot of them who are very interested in physical activity. And so I get to sort of take all those stories and experiences and advice and bring that back and hopefully become a better professor for it.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

So yeah, well, you and you're gonna be here at some point too. I mean, you're gonna be traveling a lot. Is it gonna take up all your summer? Is it well no?

SPEAKER_00 30:43

I got a schedule in the Gulf and the Mexica, so I'll be around to make those happen.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

All right, you better be. Well, that's a deal. I'm taking you up on that. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate you coming on in here. We made a nice early morning at it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Yeah, great way to start the day. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Of course, Colleen, and thank you all for listening to this. Obviously, you'll be listening to it live on the radio every Wednesday at 4 o'clock on 105.3 FM The Talon. But get it anywhere you want on podcast platforms. I'll send it to Colleen, make sure she gets to hear her voice um for the half hour. And um, yeah, thank you guys for joining me. Ryan Fitzpatrick of Unscripted Ryan, and we'll see you guys next time. Peace.