Faculty & Contact - Bishop's University

Below is a list of faculty that are active in the department, and available to students with course specific questions. If you need administrative support, we encourage you to refer your questions to one of the following;

The Chair of the department can address detailed program questions, including program requirements, planning and selection, research opportunities, graduate studies, and more.
The Academic Advisor, if available, can offer support including course registration and course load, important dates, academic policies and more.
The Academic Deans serve as the academic and administrative anchors to the professors within their Faculties or Schools as well as the students.

Faculty of the Sports Studies Department

Contact Information is found in the BU Directory

Dr. Danilo Fernandes da Silva

Associate Professor

Dr. Fernandes da Silva joined the Sports Studies department in 2022. He completed his undergraduate studies (BSc) in the department of Physical Education at the State University of Maringa, Brazil. His MSc and PhD were completed at the same department/institution. His research area is applied exercise physiology. More specifically, he is interested in exercise prescription and training monitoring based on physiological and perceptual markers in female individuals.

His PhD work (2013-2016) aimed at developing a novel endurance running training program for untrained female individuals. In summary, he designed a heart rate variability-guided training program in which exercise prescription was based on cardiac autonomic activity. His study demonstrated the potential benefits of this approach on cardiorespiratory capacity, running performance, parasympathetic activity, and psychological markers, such as mood state and recovery-stress parameters. From 2017-2019, Dr. Da Silva gained intensive teaching experience as a contract professor in a public Brazilian university (Midwestern State University of Parana). He had the opportunity to teach ten undergraduate annual courses (68-102 hours/each) in the Physical Education Department and two courses in the multidisciplinary residence program focused on family health (40 hours/each). He completed his Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa (2019-2022) in the lab of Dr. Kristi Adamo (Prevention in the Early Years Research Program). He was involved in two large projects (‘SmartMoms Canada Program’ and ‘Addressing sex-disparities in musculoskeletal injuries, women’s reproductive health, and barriers to recruitment and retention in the Canadian Armed Forces’), as well as led studies in the field of applied exercise physiology and pregnancy (e.g., resting heart rate variability assessment and acute physiological and perceptual responses to submaximal exercise).

His publications can be seen at his Research Gate profile.

Dr. Erika Gray

Assistant Professor

Erika Gray started at Bishop’s University during the summer of 2024. She completed her PhD in Human Kinetics with a concentration in Sport Management at the University of Ottawa. Prior to starting her PhD in Ottawa, Erika completed her Master’s Degree in Kinesiology, Sport Management and Leadership at Western University and has a Bachelor of Kinesiology (Honours) with a Minor in Business from Brock University.

During Erika’s masters she investigated the perceptions that undergraduate students have of the barriers women may face to achieve senior leadership positions in Professional Sport Organizations. During her PhD, she investigated how a strategic leadership approach called management by values can be used to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) approaches in Canadian National Sport Organizations.

Erika is an avid PWHL Ottawa fan, loves to cycle, and travel! She has experience working in consulting, customer service, event management, and community relations. Erika is looking forward to bringing her passion for sport and industry related experience to her courses:

SPO 250: Sport Management: Theory to Practice
SPO 304: Advanced Seminar in Sports Business and Society
SPO 350: Leading Contemporary Sport Organizations

Erika plans to continue her research within the EDI sport context. Currently, Erika’s ongoing research projects are investigating the impact of a management by values leadership approach on an organization’s process to value EDI, and unpacking belonging in sport.

Her Research Interests Are: Gender, equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and leadership in sport

A Fun Fact About Her: Erika is a triathlete and has participated in 20 triathlon races so far!

Status of Accepting Students: Erika is accepting honours undergraduate students and an individualized master’s student for the 2026-2027 academic year who are interested in the aforementioned research topics or a related topic. Erika also has research assistant opportunities available for the 2025-2026 academic year! If you are interested in working with her, please contact her via email (which can be found on the Bishop’s University directory).

Publication List:

Erika’s list of publications can be found on Google Scholar!

Dr. Tavis Smith

Assistant Professor

Tavis holds a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies (BMOS, Western University), a Master of Sport Policy, Management, and International Development (MSc, University of Edinburgh), and a PhD in Kinesiology, Physical Cultural Studies (University of Toronto). Tavis’ research interests are primarily in sport’s role in community development, well-being and social inequality, and the environment.

He currently has two primary streams of research: first, an FRQSC-funded project designed to better understand sport’s role in community life and recovery in the aftermath of wildfires and floods; second, to investigate the role of trails (e.g. for hiking and biking) and outdoor recreation in community development and well-being. This research is done in collaboration with various communities across Canada and the USA.

Before joining Bishop’s, Tavis worked on the business side of junior hockey, coordinated sport programming in small communities in Ontario and British Columbia, managed a mental health advocacy organization, and (still tries to) spend as much time riding his bike as possible.

See Tavis’ publications list on Google Scholar.

Dr. Rafael Tedesqui

Assistant Professor

B.A. (Honours) in Psychology (Faculdade Ruy Barbosa), M.A. in Human Kinetics – Sport Psychology (University of Ottawa), Ph.D. in Human Kinetics – Sport Psychology (University of Ottawa). Dr. Tedesqui’s research focuses on the link between personality traits and learning, training, and talent development in sport. He is also interested in the role of self-regulation on athletes’ practice as well as in methodological advances in the field of personality and expertise development. His research program is a product of his collaborations with networks of clubs and sport organizations across Canada and has been awarded federal and provincial funding.

Selected Publications:

Tedesqui, R. A. B., & Young, B. W. (accepted). The relationship between athletes’ self-reported grit levels and coach-reported practice engagement over one sport season. Journal of Sport Behavior.

Baker, J., Young, B. W., Tedesqui, R. A. B., & McCardle, L. (in press). New perspectives on deliberate practice and the development of sport expertise. In R. Ecklund & G. Tenenbaum (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (4th ed.). London: Wiley.

Tedesqui, R. A. B., McCardle, L., Bartulovic, D., & Young, B. W. (2019). Toward a more critical dialogue for enhancing self-report surveys in sport expertise and deliberate practice research. Movement & Sport Sciences – Science et Motricité. Advance online publication. doi:10.1051/sm/2018027.

Tedesqui, R. A. B., & Young, B. W. (2018). Comparing the contribution of conscientiousness, self-control, and grit to key criteria of sport expertise development. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 34, 110-118. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.10.002.

Tedesqui, R. A. B., & Young, B. W. (2015). Perspectives on active and inhibitive self-regulation relating to the deliberate practice activities of sport experts. Talent Development & Excellence, 7(1), 29-39.

Dr. Maxime Trempe

Full Professor

Dr. Trempe joined the Sports Studies program in 2012 and was the first full-time faculty appointed to the program. He completed a Ph.D. in Sport exercise sciences at the Université de Montréal and a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. Dr. Trempe is primarily interested by the development of athletes as well as the processes underlying skill acquisition in athletes and non-athletes.

His research projects aim at understanding the factors influencing the learning of complex movements and identifying optimal training methods. Dr. Trempe is also an adjunct professor at the Faculté des sciences de l’activité physique of the Université de Sherbrooke and a Master Learning-Facilitator for the National Coaching Certification Program. Prior to his academic life, Dr. Trempe worked as a professional alpine ski coach and instructor in Québec, Alberta and New-Zealand. Still an avid skier, he also likes road and mountain biking, cross country skiing, and squash.

Research interests:

Motor skill consolidation
Interplay between reinforcement and error-dependent learning processes
The influence of an acute bout of physical activity on motor skill consolidation
Decision-making in collective sports
How virtual reality can be used to train decision-making skills

See Maxime’s publications list on Google Scholar.

Part-time Faculty of the Sports Studies Department

Tom Allen

Contract Faculty

Tom returns to the department after a short period away. He graduated from Bishop’s in 1969 and started a 50-year career in University sports administration with an emphasis on event management. Tom is a retired former Director of Athletics and football coach at Bishop’s. He has extensive experience in management such as President of USports, President of the 2013 Summer Canada Games, various Bid Committee member, Commissioner RSEQ football. Tom presently is President of TA Allen Sports Management Consultant.

Laura Crack

Contract Faculty

Laura holds a BSc in Health Science from Bishop’s University and a MSc in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary. To date, she has been involved in research projects spanning an array of areas from high performance sport, to metabolic health in post-menopausal females, to hormonal health in female university students. She is passionate about quality of life and its relationship with physical health and activity, as well as female-specific considerations in health and exercise science.

Currently, her doctoral research focus is related to rehabilitation methods and autonomic functioning for Canadians living with chronic spinal cord injury. Laura is also passionate about innovative teaching methods and post-secondary education in the fields of health and exercise science. When she is not working, you will certainly find Laura in the gym or practicing one of many sports!

Recent Publications:

Crack, L.E., Doyle-Baker, P.K. (2020). Stress levels in university/college female students at the start of the academic year. Journal of American College Health. DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1803880

Martin Fréchette

Contract Faculty

Martin Fréchette joined the Sports Studies program as a contract faculty in 2015. Martin is a registered dietitian and has a Master’s degree in Sport Nutrition from the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal. In addition to teaching at Bishop’s University, he works with several athletes and national teams supported by INS Québec and Excellence Sportive Sherbrooke. Martin is also co-holder of the Nutrition Module of the Advanced Coaching Diploma of the National Coaching Certification Program. In 2013, he held the position of Director of Food Services at the Canada summer games in Sherbrooke. And last but not least, Martin is a consultant for Nutrition for the Montreal Canadiens since 2017.

Selected Publications:

Morin et al., Making the best food choices before competing: Developing and evaluating a nutritional intervention with the intervention-mapping framework, Journal of Physical Education and Sport Management, Vol. 7(1) pp. 1-8, January 2016. DOI: 10.5897/JPESM2015.0234

Guy Hajj Boutros

Contract Faculty

Guy Hajj-Boutros holds a Masters’ Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Québec in Montreal. He has been an integral member of several research programs studying exercise and obesity and has published multiple papers on the definition and assessment of exercise as a functional clinical tool in older adults, both healthy and frail. M. Hajj-Boutros is involved in numerous clinical and research initiatives aimed at improving seniors’ overall quality of life. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University while concurrently working as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

Steven King

Contract Faculty

Stephen King has completed a Bachelor’s degree in Phys.Ed. (Western), a Diploma in Sports Injury Management (Sheridan College), a Master’s degree in Kinanthropologie (Université de Sherbrooke) and a Diploma in Osteopathy (CEO Montreal). He has been teaching as contract faculty at Bishop’s since 2001. Prof. King was Director of the Sports Medicine Centre/Head Athletic Therapist at Bishop’s from 1984 to 2013. He has been selected to work as an Athletic Therapist/Osteopath at several Olympic Games, World Games and Pan-American Games. Prof. King has worked for the Canadian National Snowboarding, Canadian National Women’s Basketball and Canadian National Trampoline/Tumbling teams.

Morgan Quinn

Contract Faculty

Morgan Quinn, hometown Rosemere, Quebec attended Bishop’s University in the mid 70’s. An avid athlete, Morgan competed with the varsity basketball and football programs in his years at Bishop’s. He graduated with a BA, majoring in History and two minors, Sociology and English. Morgan completed the post graduate “Diploma in Education” program at Bishop’s, which later lead to the completion of a “Masters in Education” degree in “Curricular Development,” with special focus on “Media Literacy,” also at Bishop’s.

After returning from a ten year absence from the Townships, Morgan was an assistant coach with both the Gaiters varsity football and basketball programs in the mid 80’s. He later went on to become the Head Coach of the Champlain College Cougars Men’s basketball team for two years. He retired from the ETSB in 2013, where he taught senior social sciences at Alexander Galt for 27 years. While there, he coached football, basketball, baseball and was the coordinator for the ski club. He has been engaged with the Sports Studies Contract Faculty since the academic year of 2010/2011. His academic interest is media literacy and what impact the media have with the direction of society. In his leisure time, Morgan enjoys golfing, cycling, swimming, back country skiing and ice skating.

Marty Rourke

Contract Faculty

Marty Rourke joined the Sports Studies program as a contract faculty in 2023. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Sports Administration) from Laurentian University in 2009. Originally from the Eastern Townships, Marty returned to the area after graduation and a brief stint working for Laurentian Athletics. He started working in the Bishop’s University Department of Athletics in 2012 and is currently the Manager of Communications for Athletics and Recreation. He is a former head coach of the Bishop’s golf team and remains involved with the program. Marty is also the Vice-President of the North Hatley Curling Club.

Dr. Xavier Roy

Contract Faculty

Xavier holds a Bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the Université de Sherbrooke and a Master’s degree in exercise physiology from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). He completed his PhD in education also at UQÀM examining training loads and reflective practice in university football. His interests are athletic development, sports coaching, monitoring of training and education.

As an athletic development coach and kinesiologist, Xavier has worked with athletes from many sports such as football, soccer, track & field, speed skating, and ice hockey. He has been a Strength and Conditioning coach at McGill University (football and basketball) and at the Université de Sherbrooke (football). He also works as a collaborator in athletic development with Excellence Sportive Sherbrooke.

He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a member of the Fédération des Kinésiologues du Québec.