[{"id":1024,"date":"2026-06-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:06:30","slug":"student-travel-grants-expand-learning-opportunities-across-three-departments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/2026\/06\/05\/student-travel-grants-expand-learning-opportunities-across-three-departments\/","title":{"rendered":"Student travel grants expand learning opportunities across three departments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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A group of Bioengineering students stands with RHBSSI Director, John DesJardins, and faculty fellow Reed Gurchiek at the American Society of Biomechanics Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By Katie Gerbasich <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the fiscal year wraps up, we are looking back at the Clemson students the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI) supported through travel grants this year. Spanning three departments, this funding allowed students to attend sports conferences, competitions and experiential learning events that furthered their education and professional development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Bioengineering <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In August, Bianca Henline, Sydney Savage and Abbie Underwood attended the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bianca Henline also recieved an ASB Student Travel Award to support the presentation of her research.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Henline presented her thesis research, which focused on the development and application of a method for simulating commotio cordis-inducing impacts to evaluate the effectiveness of football chest protective equipment. The presentation represented the culmination of approximately 2.5 years of dedicated research with the Clemson Impact Performance of Sports Protective Equipment Creative Inquiry team, which she led.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her most significant takeaway from the conference was learning from companies in the forensic industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore attending the conference, I had committed to a position in the forensic field, and engaging with the research and findings of others provided insight into potential applications within my own professional responsibilities,\u201d Henline said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in October, senior Bioengineering student Chloe Izant attended the Biomedical Engineering Society Conference in San Diego, California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In February, Enzo Ferriera attended the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) Conference in St. Augustine, Florida, where he presented research on behalf of a group of fellow Ph.D. students.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Enzo Ferriera stands before his presentation at COSMA. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Their project, Navigating Research Practices as Graduate Sport Management Students: The Issue of Miscitations in the Sport Literature<\/em>, explored their experiences conducting rigorous academic research and highlighted the issues of miscitation encountered throughout the research process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presentation examined possible reasons for the prevalence of miscitations in research practices and literature. It offered recommendations for graduate students and faculty to strengthen research practices in sport and recreation management. The project also served as a stepping stone toward publication, as the group prepares the final version of the manuscript to increase rigor across the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe RHBSSI has always been supportive of our group\u2019s scholarship and professional development through travel grants, events on campus, and partnerships with our faculty advisors,\u201d Ferriera said. \u201cThese avenues have certainly paved the way for us to succeed in academia and our future goals in the sport management world, as well as making it possible for our research initiatives to reach the audiences that they need so that they can create an impact on the field right away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Benjamin Hinckfoot presents with faculty fellow, Ashlyn Hardie, at NASSM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In May, Benjamin Hinckfoot and Innhoo Baek attended the North American Society for Sport Management Conference (NASSM) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hinckfoot presented research titled Assessing Holistic Outcomes of a Short-Term Service Abroad for Intercollegiate Athletes<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside Department of Automotive Engineering student, Hadley Smith, PRTM students Jenny Pinion, Emma Shurley, and George Rieger participated in a case-study competition at the Women in Motorsports Mobil 1 event in Indianapolis, Indiana, where they placed second and received a $1,500 award.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Felipe Tobar, Emma Shurley, and Jenny Pinion pose with their second-place award. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After advancing in the Lap 1 pool, which comprised 21 universities from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the team presented to five industry leaders against five other universities at the<\/span> Dallara Convention Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their final-lap challenge involved developing an idea for a corporation already involved in, or planning to enter, the motorsports industry to engage the rapidly growing global community of female fans, a demographic characterized by high emotional investment and purchasing power.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The group of students presents to a panel of judges as part of the Women with Drive competition. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Faculty fellows Felipe Tobar and Ashlyn Hardie served as co-advisors for the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking with these four bright students has been a joy and a testament to the fact that when we give them the tools and the opportunity to pursue their dreams, they will shine,\u201d Tobar said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Communication <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Brandon Boatwright stands with his students inside the new Emory Healthcare Studio. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Students in faculty fellow Brandon Boatwright\u2019s COMM Sport and Social Media Class traveled to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground, where they watched a practice and received an exclusive tour of the new Emory Healthcare Studio, a first-of-its-kind media operations facility. The class spent the semester developing social media strategies for Atlanta United FC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip allowed students to connect with their client while exploring potential careers in the sports industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing the new studio was truly a testament to how social media is changing the sports industry,\u201d Katie Gerbasich, a student who attended the trip, said. \u201cThe content team at Atlanta United was able to advocate for their importance and get major funding for state-of-the-art equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Overall, the Institute was thrilled to financially support seven individual students and two student groups to attend sports conferences and events in fiscal year 2026, which began July 1, 2025 and ends June 30, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a> to learn more about the Institute’s Clemson Student Travel Grant program. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the fiscal year wraps up, the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute would like to highlight the student travel grants it supported. Spanning three departments, these opportunities allowed students to attend conferences, competitions and experiential learning events that furthered their education and professional development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4292,"featured_media":1028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63147],"tags":[],"coauthors":[63181],"class_list":["post-1024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-posts"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/files\/2026\/06\/bianca-group-150x150.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":1014,"date":"2026-06-01T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:24:16","slug":"rhbssi-adds-two-clemson-faculty-members-to-fellows-cohort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/2026\/06\/01\/rhbssi-adds-two-clemson-faculty-members-to-fellows-cohort\/","title":{"rendered":"RHBSSI adds two Clemson faculty members to fellows cohort"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute is excited to welcome two new Clemson faculty members to its cohort of Faculty Fellows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brook Russell, Ph.D.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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Associate Professor of Applied Statistics, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Russell<\/a> is an associate professor in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (SMSS), with a portion of his research and mentoring activities focusing in sports analytics and human performance. He has collaborated with Paul Hogan, Senior Assistant Football Strength and Conditioning Coach at Clemson University, to understand the extreme athleticism of football players. This collaboration has resulted in the manuscript Analyzing dependence matrices to investigate relationships between National Football League Combine event performances<\/a><\/em>, published in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports<\/em> in 2018. In this work, they analyzed National Football League Combine event performances using both extreme-value and non-extremes-based approaches and explored how these approaches can inform the evaluation of NFL prospects. This research was then presented at the New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports<\/em> in October 2021. Dr. Russell aims to further examine the performance characteristics of elite football prospects and contribute to the growing body of research on sport performance metrics and talent evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is also currently partnering with the Institute’s Dan Duncan Professor of Sports Marketing, Dr. Angeline Scheinbaum, to understand how sponsorships of local sporting events impact corporate community involvement.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Divya Srinivasan, Ph.D., CPE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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McQueen Quattlebaum Professor of Industrial Engineering and Bioengineering <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Srinivasan<\/a> is the McQueen Quattlebaum Professor of Industrial Engineering and Bioengineering, and a Faculty Scholar in the Clemson University School of Health Research. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2010. She worked as an EU Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Musculoskeletal Research in Sweden. She joined the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech in 2016 and served as an assistant and associate professor there prior to joining Clemson in 2021. She currently directs the Biomechanics, Ergonomics, Safety and Training laboratories<\/a> at Clemson University. She is also the director of the Clemson SHERPA Center, which focuses on human performance and worker safety\/health. She has over two decades of research experience in human performance assessments, human motion modeling (including digital human modeling), injury prevention, and collaborative and wearable robotics, including exoskeletons to improve performance, health, and safety. Her research program has been funded by multiple grants from the NSF, NIOSH, NIH, and industry sponsors totaling nearly $28 million in the last 10 years, resulting in over 85 peer-reviewed journal publications and almost 200 international conference presentations to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute is excited to welcome two new Clemson faculty members to its cohort of Faculty Fellows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4292,"featured_media":458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63147,445,63148],"tags":[],"coauthors":[63181],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-posts","category-faculty","category-institute-updates"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/files\/2025\/01\/sirrine-logo-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":999,"date":"2026-05-22T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/?p=999"},"modified":"2026-06-01T23:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T23:26:33","slug":"meet-the-institutes-summer-2026-interns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/2026\/05\/22\/meet-the-institutes-summer-2026-interns\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Institute’s Summer 2026 Interns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Katie Gerbasich<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute is excited to welcome back two former interns to the team. Bringing a wide range of experience in communication and event planning, the pair will help lead preparations for the third-annual RECESS symposium while continuing to support the Institute\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie Gerbasich – Communications Lead<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Katie Gerbasich graduated this spring from Clemson with a degree in Sports Communication. She has worked with the Institute for the previous three semesters as a writer and editor. Gerbasich hopes to pursue a master’s degree in sports analytics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I truly love working with this team,” Gerbasich said. “This new role will be an exciting oppurtunity to continue growing professionally.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Lucy Hart – Events Lead<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Lucy Hart recently graduated from Clemson in December with a degree in Sports Management. Since then, Hart has been working as a People Operations Intern for the Savannah Bananas on the Banana Ball World Tour, gaining hands-on experience in sports operations and event management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can’t wait to come back to RHBSSI as the Events Lead once again,\u201d Hart said. \u201cI am excited to be back in Clemson to complete my master\u2019s in public administration and jump back into my work with the Institute.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer, the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute is excited to welcome back two former interns to the team. Bringing a wide range of experience in communication and event planning, the pair will help lead preparations for the third-annual RECESS symposium while continuing to support the Institute\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4292,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63147,63148,181],"tags":[62377,63159],"coauthors":[63181],"class_list":["post-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-posts","category-institute-updates","category-students","tag-brooks-sports-science-institute","tag-interns"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/files\/2026\/05\/Intern-Web-Graphic-150x150.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":994,"date":"2026-05-01T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/?p=994"},"modified":"2026-05-01T00:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:43:00","slug":"spring-2026-interns-reflect-on-their-experience-with-the-institute-and-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/brookssports\/2026\/05\/01\/spring-2026-interns-reflect-on-their-experience-with-the-institute-and-whats-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2026 interns reflect on their experience with the Institute and what\u2019s next"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Katie Gerbasich<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Spring semester wraps up, interns from the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute are looking back on their experiences that defined their time with the program. This semester marked the Institute\u2019s largest intern cohort to date, including two Beyond the Game student-athlete interns. From hands-on work in content creation to collaborative storytelling, each intern contributed in unique ways while also beginning to shape their future plans.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evy Lane – Communications Lead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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