Lab members

Gabriela Estrada, Msc

Gabriela (Gaby) Estrada is a community-engaged scholar and practitioner whose work lies at the intersection of sport, equity, and belonging. She holds a Master of Science in Exercise Science from the University of Toronto, where her thesis explored the movement-based experiences of racialized women in Scarborough. As a first-generation Canadian with Guatemalan roots, Gaby’s research and advocacy are grounded in a commitment to amplifying the voices and lived experiences of equity-deserving communities in sport and physical activity.

Gaby currently serves as Executive Director of Girls Forward Foundation (formerly Fast and Female), Canada's leading charity dedicated to empowering girls through sport, movement, and education. Since 2017, she has helped lead the organization’s transformation toward a more intersectional and inclusive approach to gender equity in sport. Girls Forward has empowered over 37,000 youth across Canada through 420+ opportunities.

Her academic interests include intersectionality in sport and physical activity, community-based research methodologies, sport and social change, gender equity in sport, and the experiences of racialized and immigrant women in movement spaces.

Riley VanDeHogen

Riley VanDeHogen is a first-year PhD student working under the supervision of Dr. Kaleigh Pennock in the RISE Youth Sport Lab. Prior to beginning his PhD, Riley completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Waterloo and his MSc in Kinesiology and Physical Education at Wilfrid Laurier University.

During his MSc, Riley explored the impacts of masculinity and how it shapes football players’ psychological readiness to return to sport following a sport-related concussion. As a former U SPORTS football player with the Waterloo Warriors, Riley’s research interests centre on sport culture and gender norms in contact and collision sports, with a particular focus on how these factors shape and influence athletes’ experiences of sport-related concussion.

Bhavna Birdi

Bhavna (she/her) is a PhD student in Recreation and Leisure Studies within the Faculty of Health. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, with a minor in Biology, and her Master of Health Sciences from Wilfrid Laurier University. Her master’s research focused on spinal biomechanics and the development of minimally invasive strategies to restore intervertebral disc function following degeneration and injury.

Together with Dr. Pennock, Bhavna’s doctoral work shifts her focus toward understanding concussion reporting among racialized youth girls in sport. Her research aims to explore how social, cultural, and sport-related factors shape how youth girls recognize, communicate, and make decisions surrounding concussion symptoms and reporting. 

Nifemi Taiwo

Nifemi Taiwo is an undergraduate student in Biomedical Science at the University of Waterloo, with minors in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. Her academic and research interests include youth well-being, mental health, health equity, and the experiences of equity-deserving communities. She is particularly interested in understanding how systems and social environments influence young people’s health and well-being, and in using research to support more equitable and inclusive practices.

At the RISE Youth Sport Lab, Nifemi is interested in examining how identity, social context, and broader systems shape young people’s experiences in sport, including their participation, well-being, and access to positive sport environments. She is excited to develop her research skills while contributing to work that centres the experiences of youth and equity-deserving communities.