Greetings!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer break and are now ready for an exciting fall semester!

In May and June, the Research Council met twice to develop a strategic plan for 2024-2025, which includes taking a leadership role to accomplish the following goals: 1) Build a networking platform to promote research among all stakeholders nationally and internationally; 2) Translate research into practice to impact the health and well-being of individuals in physical activity or K-12 physical education settings; and 3) Make an impact on policies through evidence-based research.

Guided by those goals, we identified several initiatives that the Research Council will work on in the months ahead. As these individual projects are completed and ready to share publicly, you’ll find more information about them in future issues of Research in Motion and on SHAPE America’s website and other communications channels. If you’d like to share any comments or suggestions for new goals and initiatives, please email me.

The Research Council is currently working on planning events for the upcoming 2025 SHAPE America National Convention & Expo, which will be held in Baltimore, April 1-5. We are also continuing with our Research Fellow Spotlights and the UnLock Research series. If you want to become a Research Fellow, apply for grants, and/or serve on the Research Council, the deadlines are approaching (see “Dates & Deadlines” below).

Finally, I would like to express my personal appreciation to the Research Council members and SHAPE America staff for their support as I transition into the chair position for the Research Council. Also, special thanks go to Paul Wright (chair in 2022) and Tan Leng Goh (past chair) for their help in my transition. I am fully committed to leading the Research Council to serve our community for better and greater, and I call upon SHAPE America members to join us and take action to accomplish the goals outlined in the strategic plan.

We are stronger when united with common goals.