BMC Leadership Team

Pirkko Markula, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Co-Lead, University of Alberta

Pirkko Markula, Ph.D., is a professor of sociocultural studies of physical activity at the University of Alberta, Canada, as well as a Pilates instructor and contemporary dancer. She is a founding member of the Body, Movement, and Culture research group of qualitative research. In her research she uses qualitative research methods to examine women's exercise experiences, their understandings of health, body image, and the ideal, fit body. In addition, she is interested how the media, the commercial fitness industry, and the diverse forms of fitness practices shape women's exercise attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Through her practice and her teaching, Dr. Markula aims to promote meaningful exercise practices. Her current research concerns the intersections of health, dance, and mindful fitness. (Source: Psychology Today)

University of Alberta Faculty Profile

Jim Denison, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, University of Alberta

Dr. Jim Denison is a professor emeritus in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta, Canada. A sport sociologist and coach educator, his research explores the formation of coaches’ practices through a poststructuralist lens. He is also the former Director of the Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre (2010-2014). Along with his numerous book chapters and referred articles, he edited Coaching Knowledges: Understanding the Dynamics of Performance Sport (2007, AC Black) and co-edited Moving Writing: Crafting Movement in Sport Research (2003, Peter Lang). He served on the Editorial Board of Sports Coaching Review and was co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Sports Coaching (2013, Routledge). In addition, Denison is the author of The Greatest (2004, Breakaway Books), the official biography of the Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie, and Bannister and Beyond: The Mystique of the Four-Minute Mile (2003, Breakaway Books), a collection of in-depth interviews with a wide-array of sub four-minute milers. Before coming to the University of Alberta, Denison held positions at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and De Montfort University and the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. Originally from New York, he earned his Ph.D. in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and his Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Toledo. He is a former NCAA Division I middle-distance runner (Fordham University) with a personal best of 3:43.50 for 1500m. He was Head Boys’ Cross-country and Track Coach at Bronxville High School, New York (1986-88), Assistant Men’s Cross-country and Track Coach at the University of Toledo (1988-89) and Volunteer Assistant Men’s Cross-country and Track Coach at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (1991-93).

Allison Jeffrey, Ph.D.

Co-Lead, University of Bath

Allison Jeffrey, Ph.D., is a lecturer/assistant professor in the Department for Health at the University of Bath. Her research draws on theoretical frameworks of new materialisms and the philosophy of posthumanism to expand understandings of moving bodies in sport, physical activity, recreation, and leisure pursuits. To do this, she experiments with non-conventional research design, and practices that question the confines and conventions of humanist qualitative research. Themes of her research include wellbeing and health, relational experiences with nature and climate change, gendered dimensions of movement practices and ageing. Dr. Jeffrey is currently involved in a range of projects with international scholars and is the co-lead of a more-than-human speaker series featuring innovative research in this area of study.

University of Bath Faculty Profile

Joseph Mills, Ph.D.

Co-Lead, University of Denver

Joe Mills is an International Adjunct Professor of Sports Coaching at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. Originally from the U.K., and now Canadian, Joe is also a former schoolteacher, international track athlete, clinical Pilates teacher who transitioned mid-career after being asked to become a senior manager in a High School. Wanting a change, he transitioned through three graduate degrees and a professional accreditation program as a sports psychologist. Joe’s research and teaching crosses the intersections of the social sciences—psychology and sociology—and sport, exercise, coaching and pedagogy, by drawing from post-structural theories that explore the complex social forces that shape and inform the body to reveal unseen problems and unintended consequences to improve knowledge and practice. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, presented at leading conferences, and consulted for international sports organizations. (Source: University of Denver)

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