Malaika Bigirindavyi
Email: mjb18@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Malaika Bigirindavyi is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism, concentrating on Sport Management. Born and raised in Minnesota, Malaika’s approach to learning, teaching, and research centers on uplifting marginalized perspectives within academia and transforming institutional policies and practices to advance critical diversity, equity, and inclusion through mechanisms of sport and education.
Olivia Crickman-Connors
Email: olc4@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Olivia is in the second year of pursuing her PhD in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned attained a B.S. in Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability and an M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research revolves around deviant leisure, exploring the effects of blue and green space exposure on attention restoration and social media addiction to improve quality of life in children, specifically adolescents. Olivia is advised by Dr. Monika Stodolska.
Olivia (Yan) Huang
Email: yan65@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Olivia Yan Huang is currently pursuing her PhD in the Recreation, Sport, and Tourism program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, advised by Dr. Monika Stodolska. Her research examines the intersection of technology, leisure, and well-being, with particular attention to how emerging digital technologies such as AI shape people’s emotional experiences and social relationships. Her current projects focus on digital nomad families, family quality of life, AI-facilitated leisure, AI use among socially vulnerable populations, and human–AI intimacy. For more information, please visit her website at https://oliviayanhuang.github.io/
Sara Keivan
Email: skeivan2@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Sara is a Ph.D. student in the Recreation, Sport, and Tourism program in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I work under the supervision of Dr. Yannick Kluch. Her research interests lie at the intersection of sport, social justice, and social change, with a particular focus on athlete activism under authoritarian regimes. She identifies as a qualitative researcher and with an interest in examining how sport can serve as a site of resistance and social transformation. She earned both her bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literature and her master’s degree in French Studies from the University of Tehran in Iran. Her master’s thesis, which explored social inclusion through racket sports in France, inspired her to shift my academic focus toward sport management and sport sociology. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she gained experience in both teaching and coaching, working as a French language teacher and a badminton coach in Iran.
Valentin Heinemann
Email: Vlh4@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Valentin is a master’s student in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism working under Dr. Yannick Kluch. His research interests are broad at the moment, but involve the intersection of sport and social justice, with an interest in third spaces as sites of resistance and knowledge sharing. Valentin hopes to use his research as a platform for social change.
Xue Yan
Email: xueyan3@illinois.edu
Research and Professional Interests
Xue Yan is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois and she is advised by Dr. Liza Berdychevsky. Her research interests include social justice of individuals’ leisure life, with a particular focus on transgender community. Xue is also interested in positive sexuality on gender and sexual minorities’ leisure and recreation participation and sexual health education.
Weiran (Sherry) Zhang
Research and Professional Interests
Weiran (Sherry) Zhang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to her doctoral studies, she earned an MA with Distinction in Cultural Heritage Studies from University College London, and a BSc with First Class Honours at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies. Her research interests primarily focus on heritage tourism, specifically exploring the intersections of authenticity, interpretation, and sustainable development. Her current research also extends to the dynamics of diasporic heritage and the construction of authenticity in digital contexts.
Email: weiran6@illinois.edu
Solomon Siskind
Research and Professional Interests
Solomon Siskind is pursuing a PhD in the Recreation, Sport and Tourism program within the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also serves full-time as Assistant Director for Illini Way Student-Athlete Development in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. In his professional role, he supports the holistic development of student-athletes through leadership and career development programming, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives, and community engagement opportunities. Siskind’s research line is centered on matters of DEIB in sport, with a particular focus on constructions of race and (anti-)Blackness in intercollegiate athletics. His work has been supported by an NCAA Graduate Student Research Grant and has been presented at national conferences including the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS), the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A), and the Black Student Athlete Summit. Prior to Illinois, Siskind served as a Postgraduate Intern in the NCAA Office of Inclusion. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management and Sociology and a Master of Science in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a native of Brockton, Massachusetts.
Juan Carlos Acevedo
Research and Professional Interests
Juan Carlos Acevedo is a Ph.D. student whose research and professional interest focus on the methods and strategic plans park and recreation agencies implement to provide equity and inclusion in recreation and park programming.
Kshitij Tewari
Research and Professional Interests
Kshitij Tewari is a Ph.D. candidate in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research examines urban and environmental planning, social and environmental justice, and the intersections of leisure studies with queer and trans studies. His work spans topics such as resilience, belonging, and leisure pedagogy, and he is committed to advancing JEDAI in recreation and leisure. His dissertation explores the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in outdoor recreation through an interrelational lens. Drawing on an international experience in architecture and environmental planning, Kshitij brings an interdisciplinary lens to questions of health, well-being, and community engagement, making his work both academically rigorous and socially impactful.
Email: ktewari3@illinois.edu
Jenifer Munmun
Research and Professional Interests
Jenifer Munmun is a PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism (RST) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also a proud alumna of UIUC, having completed her master’s degree at the university. Bringing a unique interdisciplinary perspective to the Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Inclusion (JEDAI) Laboratory, Jenifer holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning. Her path to RST was shaped by a deep curiosity about how the recreation spaces we intentionally build, plan, and manage influence human behavior, everyday well-being, and social equity. Aligned with the JEDAI Lab’s mission to advocate for distinct communities through multidisciplinary research, her current work examines how public park and recreation environments shape participation, safety, and a sense of belonging among immigrant aging populations. Jenifer’s research explores both the physical planning and design features of leisure spaces, as well as the invisible psychological or cultural barriers that impact community inclusion. Through her work, she currently aims to bridge planning and design with leisure science and community-engaged scholarship to help translate academic theory into real-world environments that advance equity, accessibility, and resilience.
Email: jmunmun2@illinois.edu