Spotlights 2010

Adam Sheppard is a second-year doctoral student in the Educational Policy and Social Context specialization in the DOE. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Physiological Science at UCLA where he also had a three-year sports medicine internship in the athletic department. After graduating from UCLA, he worked for the YMCA of Orange County developing programs to train elementary school teachers how to teach physical education. In addition, he also supervised various after-school physical activity programs throughout Orange County. While working at the YMCA, Adam also completed a master’s degree in Kinesiology (emphasis in youth physical activity programming) at California State University, Fullerton.

Through his work at the YMCA and his course work at CSUF, Adam became interested in the use of organized activities to promote “Positive Youth Development,” or the promotion of positive behavior in youth. After reading various articles by Dr. Joseph Mahoney, Adam decided to call him to discuss his research on organized activity participation. Adam was then encouraged to pursue a Ph.D. at UC Irvine and to work with Dr. Mahoney.

Now, as a second-year student at UCI, Adam is pursuing his research interest in youth involvement in out-of-school activities (especially those involving physical activity) as a member of Dr. Mahoney’s After-school and Community Education lab. In addition to his research, Adam is also pursuing an interest in teaching and serves as the Pedagogical Fellow for the Department of Education and the Paul Merage School of Business. Through various workshops and mentoring sessions, Adam supports Teaching Assistants as they prepare for the roles they will play in the education of undergraduate students.

Adam is looking forward to pursuing a career in higher education, using his research to inform public policy and his own teaching.