FACULTY AND STAFF

Christine Wegner

Christine Wegner

Institute Director

Christine Wegner, Ph.D. is a Lecturer with the Department of Sport Management at the University of Florida. Her research interests include sport for social change and marginalized populations in sport, particularly the role of organizations and organizing in the formation of identities in and through sport. She has also worked with several local and national non-profit sport organizations, providing program and membership evaluation as a means of strategic programming and fundraising.

Chris McLeod

Chris McLeod

Associate Director of Research

Dr. Chris McLeod conducts high-impact research to help athletes and athlete-led organizations. He uses research, teaching, and engagement to help athletes improve their working conditions and development opportunities. With 26 articles in peer reviewed journals, Dr. McLeod is passionate about sharing his knowledge with students.

Kim Bastable

Kim Bastable

Professor of Practice

Kim is Professor of Practice and Director of Professional Racquets Management of the University of Florida. She has a Master’s in education from University of Missouri, specializing in Positive Coaching psychology, and a bachelor’s in finance from UF. She is USPTA Elite and PTR Professional.

Becky Burleigh

Becky Burleigh

Professor of Practice

Not only is Becky a Professor of Practice, but she is also the co-founder of What Drives Winning. With her 32 years as a practicing coach and extensive work to revolutionize the way we educate coaches, she continues to make her mark on the industry here at the Institute of Coaching Excellence.

Addison Staples

Addison Staples

Professor of Practice

Addison Staples is an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Sport Management at the University of Florida. Addison believes that sport has the power to heal and every youth should have the opportunity to live in a community that fosters their development, creates opportunity through sport to find their passions and strengths, and when sports are used as an intervention, it can serve as an investment in an equitable youth system that prepares youth for work and life.

Shelley Lyle

Shelley Lyle

Instructional Faculty

Shelley Lyle is the Program Director of PAADS Certificate and lecturer for the Department of Sport Management. Shelley has always believed that sport creates a positive impact beyond time spent on the field. She teaches two courses focused on the holistic development of athletes, creates invaluable networking opportunities through the Department of Engaged Learning and Outreach, and serves as a career coach for students.

Molly Harry

Molly Harry

Affiliate Faculty

Molly Harry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sport Management. Through predominantly qualitative and mixed methods approaches, her research explores ways to integrate “big-time” athletics into the American academy with a focus on two areas: (1) Understanding the relationship between the NCAA, institutions, and athletic departments, and (2) examining ways the NCAA, institutions, and athletic departments can improve athletes’ developmental opportunities and experiences.

Jasamine Hill

Jasamine Hill

Affiliate Faculty

Jasamine Hill, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Sport Management at the University of Florida. Dr. Hill recently received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in August 2024. During her doctoral program, she was active by being an executive researcher for the Positive Sport Organizational Behavior Laboratory, a graduate research and teaching assistant, a media specialist for the Educational Leadership Research Center, and the diversity and inclusion student representative for the North American Society of Sport Management.

Emily Plunkett

Emily Plunkett

Affiliate Faculty

Emily Plunkett, Ph.D., is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the University of Florida Department of Sport Management. A certified Athlete Development Specialist, she has developed career transition programming, courses, and executive education for college athletes, sport management students, and professional athletic support staff. Plunkett’s research examines the effects of pre-transition programming on transition quality factors for athletes retiring from elite sport and college students entering the workforce.

FACULTY AFFILIATES

Michael Reid

Michael Reid

Faculty Affiliate

Michael B. Reid, Ph.D. is Professor of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology and Dean of the College of Health & Human Performance at the University of Florida. Dr. Reid is recognized for his research on the redox mechanisms that underlie muscle weakness and fatigue. His research team was the first to demonstrate that skeletal muscle produces reactive oxygen species, the first to identify nitric oxide as an endogenous modulator of muscle contraction, and the first to demonstrate that oxidative stress plays a causal role in human muscle fatigue.

Christopher Janelle

Christopher Janelle

Faculty Affiliate

Christopher Janelle is Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Health and Human Performance, as well as Professor and Director of the Performance Psychology Laboratory in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. His research interests focus on the interaction of emotion, attention, and movement as related to human performance and health issues.

Dan Connaughton

Dan Connaughton

Faculty Affiliate

Dan Connaughton, Ed.D., is a Professor in the Sport Management program. His research is largely focused on the study of law and risk management in sport and physical activity programs. Adopting a multi-methodological approach, his research has specifically investigated (a) risk perception; (b) risk management policies and practices; (c) awareness of and compliance with statutes, standards, and guidelines; and (d) injury/death prevention in sport and physical activity.

Blain Harrison

Blain Harrison

Faculty Affiliate

Dr. Blain Harrison joined APK in 2016 as a Lecturer and the Internship Coordinator for the undergraduate and graduate APK programs. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology, and a Ph.D. in Sports Medicine all from the University of Virginia along with a Master’s of Science in Athletic Training from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Christine Brooks

Christine Brooks

Faculty Affiliate

Christine Brooks, Ph.D., is the Head Developer and Instructor for USA Track and Field Instructor Training Program. Dr. Brooks has decades of experience in sport education, after serving as the Women’s Track & Field Head Coach at Penn State University, a coordinator of the Sport Science Coaching Education Program at USA Track and Field, among various other roles. She has also received numerous awards, including USA Track & Field Terry Crawford Coaching Education Award in 2020 and the USATF Fred Wilt Educator of the Year Award in 2022.

 

 

Ted Spiker

Ted Spiker

Faculty Affiliate

Ted Spiker, the chair of the department of journalism, primarily teaches Sports Media & Society. He came to the University of Florida in 2001, was awarded tenure in 2007, and promoted to full professor and chair in 2015. Spiker was named the University of Florida Teacher of the Year for 2016-17.

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Esterline

Eric Esterline

Faculty Affiliate

Eric Esterline is the Director of Sports Journalism and Communication and a lecturer for the College of Journalism and Communications. He also holds an appointment for the College of Health and Human Performance in sport management. Before coming to Gainesville in 2015 he worked in sports radio and journalism in Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Washington D.C. and was a freelance producer for FoxSports.

 

 

Roxane Coche

Roxane Coche

Faculty Affiliate

Before coming to UF in 2018, Coche had been an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis, teaching undergraduate and graduate students in broadcast, sports journalism and entrepreneurial media. Prior to that, she was a lecturer in the Department of Communication, Media and Journalism at the University of North Georgia Dahlonega and a visiting professor in the Communication and Sciences Program at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara in Mexico.

Nicole Stedman

Nicole Stedman

Faculty Affiliate

Dr. Nicole Stedman is Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School. She is a three-time University of Florida alumna: Bachelor of Science in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences (1998), Master of Science in Agricultural Education and Communication (2001), and Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Education and Communication, with an emphasis in leadership education (2004).

 

 

Garrett Beatty

Garrett Beatty

Faculty Affiliate

Garrett Beatty joined the College of Health & Human Performance as a Lecturer in August 2015.  Garrett’s research interests include studying the strategies individuals employ to regulate emotional experiences in order to improve human performance within emotionally charged environments. Garrett is also interested in investigating how social, psychological, pedagogical, coaching, and management principles can be leveraged to enhance the career and life development of athletes.

 

Yong Jae Ko

Yong Jae Ko

Faculty Affiliate

Dr. Yong Jae Ko is a Professor in the Department of Sport Management at the University of Florida and coordinator of Sport Management Program. His primary research interest is sport consumers’ decision-making process, focused on their socio-psychological variables such as personality, needs/motivation, and attachment. This line of research has been extended to sport spectatorship/participation and donor behavior.