WHO ARE WE?

The British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Dr. Mariana Brussoni

Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia | Scientist with the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the BC Injury Research & Prevention Unit | Developmental Psychologist | Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar | Board Member of the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada | Member of the Canadian Outdoor Play Collective Impact Strategic Planning Group | Member of the International Play Safety Network | Member of the National Advisory Committee on Recess.

Dr. Mariana Brussoni is a developmental child psychologist who has investigated child injury prevention and children’s outdoor play for 20 years.

Her research focuses on investigating and promoting the importance of outdoor risky play for children’s healthy development and well-being, and measuring the physical, psychosocial and financial impacts of injuries on children, their families and the health care system to better understand injuries in children and youth.

Dr. Brussoni and her interdisciplinary research team work closely with key stakeholders, knowledge users, and community members to promote children’s healthy, active and risky outdoor play. Her work and research findings were featured in over 300 national and international media outlets.

Websites:

UBC School of Population and Public Health

BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Injury Research Program

Advisory Roles:

Outdoor Play Canada

Child & Nature Alliance of Canada

Book Dr. Brussoni as a speaker

Dr. Brussoni is available for speaking engagements such as plenary presentations, lectures, workshops, conferences, interviews, and podcasts. Please provide a minimum of two months notice prior to your event.

Book Dr. Brussoni

Current Team Members

Christina Han

Research Coordinator

Christina Han is a social science researcher working with Dr. Brussoni as a research coordinator, overseeing the overall management and implementation of research studies in the Brussoni lab. She has 10+ years of experience in qualitative and mixed-method research, and published 20 peer-refereed articles. Currently, she is working on multiple qualitative analyses using children’s interviews, photos and neighbourhood map drawings.

Kathryn Soo

Graduate Work Learn Student

Kathryn Soo is a MPT student at the University of British Columbia. She also holds a BKIN from UBC. Additionally, she is a Work Learn Student on the Go Play Outside! and Playability projects. Her role encompasses data entry, qualitative data processing, interview transcription, and social media management. She is interested in researching parental perception of risky outdoor play for children with disabilities.

Tina Cheng

Volunteer

Tina Cheng joined the Brussoni lab in May 2019 and has been working on the ECO study as a volunteer.

Rachel Ramsden

Graduate Student

Rachel Ramsden is a PhD student in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. She is interested in understanding the movements and behaviors that occur when children partake in unstructured play in order to examine the design of outdoor environments. Rachel is also the Child Care Planner at the City of Richmond, where she facilitates the design of indoor and outdoor municipal early child development settings.

Megan Zeni

Graduate Student

Megan Zeni is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at UBC. Her research interests include developing professional learning communities with in-service teachers to bridge emerging theories with teaching practices that include unstructured outdoor play as a pedagogical approach. Megan has over 20 years of experiences as a professional educator, and currently teaches in a public school outdoor and garden classroom. To learn more about her work, visit: www.meganzeni.com.

Emily Fox

Undergraduate Work Learn Student

Emily Fox is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia, double majoring in psychology and sociology. She is also a Work Learn Student for the Early Childhood Outside RCT project. She is interested in further understanding the implications reframing risk has on early childhood educators’ comfortability with outdoor play.

Michelle O’Kane

Graduate Student

Medical Student

Urban Versus Rural Fathers’ Ideas of Risk and Risk Prevention

Tak Ishikawa

Graduate Student

Go Play Outside! Study (GPO)

Vincent Li

Work Learn Student

Playability Study (PLAY)

Yingyi Lin

Research Assistant

Playability Study (PLAY) & Go Play Outside! Study (GPO)

For Potential Students

Become a Graduate Student

Dr. Brussoni supervises graduate students through the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and the Experimental Medicine Program. If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies, you can check program requirements through SPPH or Ex perimental Medicine .

Become a Work Study Student or Volunteer

Work/Learn is a program at the University of British Columbia that provides students with opportunities to gain professional skills. At the Brussoni lab, Dr. Brussoni and the research team place a strong emphasis on students’ learning experience. Many students have had the opportunity to gain research experience through working or volunteering in the Brussoni lab.

If you would like to work or volunteer at the Brussoni lab, please contact the research coordinator at playoutside@bcchr.ca, visit the Work/Learn program website, and/or apply for a position in UBC Career Services Online.