My name is Allison Gruber and I am a second year PhD student in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst under the direction of Dr. Joseph Hamill. I previously worked for Dr. Hamill and a physiology professor as a lab tech after receiving my Bachelor’s degree from UMass. I then had the pleasure of achieving my Master’s degree at East Carolina University under the direction of Dr. Paul DeVita before returning to UMass to work towards my PhD.

I study lower extremity biomechanics and I am interested in integrating physiological concepts into biomechanics research. I am currently working on projects examining how metabolic cost changes with altering movement characteristics. My graduate assignment is primarily as a Research Assistant in the Biomechanics Laboratory. I also teach a laboratory section for the undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology course in the Kinesiology Department. I became interested in the field of biomechanics as an adolescent athlete, participating in field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse. The sport that has become a lifelong passion is figure skating, particularly the growing sport of synchronized skating. After being a 10 year member of an internationally competitive team, I enjoyed coaching young skaters both on and off the ice. I am currently involved with a synchronized skating team by consulting for their off-ice training program and have been a volunteer for their pre-participation fitness screen. There are a number of projects investigating the fitness profiles of these athletes and demands of their sport. I am thrilled to bring my recreational life and my academic life together with my involvement in these ongoing projects.

If I am elected to the position of ISB Student Representative for 2009-2011, I will work towards continuing the goals of past representatives in addition to implementing my own goals. For example, I would like to continue the present student representative’s work promoting biomechanics and the ISB in economically developing countries. I wish to have a more active involvement in the student section of the ISB website, and hope to increase student participation in ISB and increase student exposure to the other labs, research groups, and learning opportunities. To accomplish this, I would also like to create a database of labs and experts in the field in order for students to find and reach out to faculty members with shared research interests. In addition, I would like to provide a forum for the interaction between students through the student section of the ISB website. I would also like to increase participation in the exchange program by encouraging researchers to seek out student visitors and increase student interest in their program. I will also continually explore new grant opportunities and hope to increase funding for ISB student programs from corporations.