My Research Journey
My passion for research began during my third year of my undergraduate degree, where I completed an internship in the ‘Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition’ in the University of Newcastle, Australia. This experience supported the development of a wide range of academic, applied and personal skills, from conducting a systematic review, to analysing cognitive responses to high intensity interval training in high school students. This experience sparked my motivation and ambition to complete a PhD. During the final year of my undergraduate degree, I completed a research study on the relationship between physical activity and indices of mental well-being (anxiety, depression and overall mental well-being) among healthy adults. I was also involved in a group project where we developed, implemented and evaluated an eight week online physical activity and nutrition programme for transition year students (aged 14-16 years old). Due to Covid-19 many aspects of both projects changed suddenly, but this challenge assisted in improving our skills of adaptability and creativity in order to overcome any issues that we encountered.
Since graduating in May 2021, I completed three internships. Alongside the ‘Bioscience Research Institute’ in TUS, I analysed the impact of a social hurling and football programme for males on their levels of physical activity and mental wellbeing (‘GAA for Dads & Lads’). As a volunteer instructor, I engaged with ‘ExWell Medical’ based in Athlone Regional Sports Centre, which is a community-based exercise class for individuals with a chronic illness e.g., diabetes, heart disease, cancer or COPD. The experience I gained while interacting with participants provided an excellent opportunity to improve my skills on pre and post testing, exercise adaptations and ensuring all exercise classes were inclusive to all. My final internship included working as a research assistant for ‘ExWell Medical’ and ‘CanTeen Ireland’ on the development of a community-based exercise programme for survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer. This project allowed for greater skills to be developed on this specific population, an area my PhD will be researching.