Dana Voelker

Aligned with the scientist-practitioner model, Dr. Voelker's research foci are an extension of her experiences as a former competitive figure skater, collegiate ice hockey player, and student and consistently connect scientific knowledge with community outreach programs and resources. 

Through her research, she aims to inform the psychosocial well-being and performance of youth in sport and exercise contexts, by minimizing the risks while maximizing the benefits of their participation. Within this work, she focuses on both health promotion (for example, fostering healthy relationships with eating, exercise, and body image) and leadership development initiatives (for example, maximizing captaincy training, addressing sociocultural barriers experienced by women and girls in pursuit of sport leadership roles). Second, she aims to optimize the teaching and learning of students through the development and evaluation of novel pedagogical strategies, such as global collaboration and active learning. 

Dr. Voelker's work has been funded by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Steelcase Education. She has been the recipient of more than 25 academic honors and awards as a graduate student and early career professional and was a University Distinguished Fellow at Michigan State University.