Miami rising senior combines sport, social work to improve communities
Katie Dunn works with Carlyn Kimiecik’s lab to leverage sport and play
Published
Katie Dunn and Carlyn Kimiecik’s collaboration started essentially with a cold call.
Dunn, a Miami University rising senior majoring in Social Work with a minor in Political Science, reached out to Kimiecik through email after reading her master’s thesis on sport-based youth development, which is social emotional learning through sport and play.
At the time, Dunn was unaware Kimiecik was joining Miami’s faculty as an assistant professor of Family Science and Social Work.
“She told me she was teaching at Miami, and I got very excited,” Dunn said. “We started talking last August about potential research opportunities.”
Kimiecik praised Dunn’s curiosity as a student, interest in making a positive impact on her community, and tremendous work ethic.
“She’s very involved on campus and has a tremendous impact on those around her,” Kimiecik said of Dunn. “She’s interested in thinking about innovative ways to really enhance kids’ experiences through sport, positive youth development, and things like that.”
When Dunn, a native of Aurora, Illinois, started at Miami, combining sport and social work was not top of mind.
It was after hearing about the work being done by Matt Moore, former chair of Miami’s Department of Family Science and Social Work, that Dunn began visualizing a potential path toward how sport could impact mental health and serve as a protective factor. Sport also can build social connections and impact social health beyond physical habits.
“That’s when I had an idea for a research project on sports nutrition and looking at the knowledge and attitudes around sports nutrition among high school coaches; how you can talk about nutrition with athletes while also cultivating a positive relationship with food and preventing some of the disordered eating that can be a problem for many teams in many sports,” said Dunn, a track and cross country athlete who now runs marathons.
In November, Dunn and Kimiecik presented a literature review at the National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter 2024 Annual Conference in Columbus. Dunn received the Undergraduate Research Presentation Award for “Exploring the Challenges Faced by Collegiate Student-Athletes Across Well-Being Domains: A Review of the Literature.”
Kimiecik and Dunn have also worked together in Kimiecik’s lab — the Sport, Play, and Resilience Collaborative (SPARC), which leverages sport and play in communities and explores how social work can support student-athletes at Miami.
“I’ve been doing research at an undergraduate level that many students don’t get close to until graduate school. That’s partially because of the environment at Miami, in terms of undergraduate research but also in the faculty’s desire to connect with students and build those relationships,” Dunn said.
Dunn has both short- and longer-term goals. Continuing to help build SPARC’s legacy while still at Miami is one aim, as is pursuing a dual master’s degree in Social Work and Public Policy before potentially working in either the nonprofit or education spheres.
“I want to have a positive impact on people,” Dunn said. “I’m very interested in looking at well-being as this holistic view. Your mental health, your physical health, even your spiritual health are not these exclusive, independent facets of your health and well-being. Trying to advance them from a more holistic and intersectional perspective is how you can bring about healthier change. I would love to work somewhere that I can carry that out.”
Dunn, a Miami University rising senior majoring in Social Work with a minor in Political Science, reached out to Kimiecik through email after reading her master’s thesis on sport-based youth development, which is social emotional learning through sport and play.
At the time, Dunn was unaware Kimiecik was joining Miami’s faculty as an assistant professor of Family Science and Social Work.
“She told me she was teaching at Miami, and I got very excited,” Dunn said. “We started talking last August about potential research opportunities.”
Kimiecik praised Dunn’s curiosity as a student, interest in making a positive impact on her community, and tremendous work ethic.
“She’s very involved on campus and has a tremendous impact on those around her,” Kimiecik said of Dunn. “She’s interested in thinking about innovative ways to really enhance kids’ experiences through sport, positive youth development, and things like that.”
When Dunn, a native of Aurora, Illinois, started at Miami, combining sport and social work was not top of mind.
It was after hearing about the work being done by Matt Moore, former chair of Miami’s Department of Family Science and Social Work, that Dunn began visualizing a potential path toward how sport could impact mental health and serve as a protective factor. Sport also can build social connections and impact social health beyond physical habits.
“That’s when I had an idea for a research project on sports nutrition and looking at the knowledge and attitudes around sports nutrition among high school coaches; how you can talk about nutrition with athletes while also cultivating a positive relationship with food and preventing some of the disordered eating that can be a problem for many teams in many sports,” said Dunn, a track and cross country athlete who now runs marathons.
In November, Dunn and Kimiecik presented a literature review at the National Association of Social Workers Ohio Chapter 2024 Annual Conference in Columbus. Dunn received the Undergraduate Research Presentation Award for “Exploring the Challenges Faced by Collegiate Student-Athletes Across Well-Being Domains: A Review of the Literature.”
Kimiecik and Dunn have also worked together in Kimiecik’s lab — the Sport, Play, and Resilience Collaborative (SPARC), which leverages sport and play in communities and explores how social work can support student-athletes at Miami.
“I’ve been doing research at an undergraduate level that many students don’t get close to until graduate school. That’s partially because of the environment at Miami, in terms of undergraduate research but also in the faculty’s desire to connect with students and build those relationships,” Dunn said.
Dunn has both short- and longer-term goals. Continuing to help build SPARC’s legacy while still at Miami is one aim, as is pursuing a dual master’s degree in Social Work and Public Policy before potentially working in either the nonprofit or education spheres.
“I want to have a positive impact on people,” Dunn said. “I’m very interested in looking at well-being as this holistic view. Your mental health, your physical health, even your spiritual health are not these exclusive, independent facets of your health and well-being. Trying to advance them from a more holistic and intersectional perspective is how you can bring about healthier change. I would love to work somewhere that I can carry that out.”
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the College of Education, Health, and Society? Visit the website for more information.
