Laurie is the Executive Director of University Recreation at Louisiana State University.  She leads a team of 40 full-time staff and 350 student employees.  Prior to LSU, she served as Director of Campus Recreation at the University of Texas-Brownsville, ’07-‘10 and as Associate Director of programs and facilities at Central Michigan University, ‘99-‘07.  She received her bachelors degree from the University of Florida and masters degree from North Carolina State University.  She as been and active and engaged member of NIRSA for 34 years and is a past president of the NIRSA Board of Directors.

LSU University Recreation completed a four-year, $84.5 million dollar expansion and redesign that is 260,000 sq. ft. of indoor recreation & fitness space in 2017.  The facility includes a 1/3 of a mile indoor that spans two floors and includes an indoor 26-yard, 20-degree sloped functional training ramp, an indoor lap pool, a 35-foot climbing tower and bouldering area, an outdoor lap pool, and a leisure river.  The department operates a 23-acre outdoor sports complex with eight mulitpurpose fields and four softball fields.  Currently, UREC is expanding the high low ropes course that will include a 475’ zip line that drops into the UREC Park that is included in the department's operational portfolio.  

Laurie’s passions include the power of play, being out of doors, and the impact those experiences have on college student success.

William (Bill) Botten, Accessibility Specialist for PlayCore. Botten is an Exercise Physiology graduate from the University of Kansas and formally served as a senior accessibility specialist, a technical assistance coordinator, and the training coordinator for more than 22 years at the U.S. Access Board. Bill specializes in accessibility and inclusion issues related to recreation facilities and outdoor developed areas. His training experience includes hundreds of presentations to local, state, and national audiences on disability awareness, the inclusion of persons with disabilities, and accessibility standards. While at the Access Board, Bill was part of a team that developed the combined guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act as well as serving on several ASTM and RESNA committees for inclusive fitness equipment and play area surfaces.

Tom Norquist joined PlayCore as Sales and Marketing Director in 1993. 

Tom is a member of PlayCore’s Strategic Services team and leads a culture of innovation and business development activities while additionally mentoring GameTime’s PlayWorx custom play division. He works closely with over 50 direct/indirect reports to lead successful product and program innovation. 

Tom has over 40 years of industry experience and over 30 with the Company. 

Prior to joining PlayCore, Tom worked as Sales Manager at the Portland, Oregon-based Columbia Cascade Company from 1983-1993 where he was responsible for overall company sales and worked extensively in new product development and custom projects for both the commercial play and site amenities.

Tom earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance/Law and Marketing from Portland State University in 1982. 

As a founding board member in 1995, past president, past treasurer, past secretary and immediate past President of the International Play Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (IPEMA) and long-term active American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) representative, over the past 40 years, Tom Norquist has been involved in all aspects of the play industry. Over a decade ago, his leadership at IPEMA developed the voiceofplay.org initiative, touching millions with the message of the importance of play. He served from 2002-2004 on the Advisory Board for the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS). For over a decade, he actively served on the (Access Board) Recreation Access Advisory Committee and Regulatory Negotiation meetings and additionally served on the advisory panel for the Access Board’s on-line Technical Assistance and Training for Play Area Accessibility. Tom served for 15 years on the Board for the International Playground Contractor’s Association (NPCAI), and is a founding steering committee member and active leader on the U.S. Coalition for Play. Tom is one of a few recipients of the coveted Joe L. Frost Play Research Collection National Play Advocate Award in April, 2008. 

Additionally, over the past decade, Tom has led Dr. Stuart Brown’s National Institute for Play (NIFP), currently is the President and is the project co-leader of the first known on-line database of scientific and academic research creating a cohesive picture about the proven scientific benefits of play. Tom is a Professor of Practice at Auburn University’s College of Architecture Design and Construction, School of Industrial and Graphic Design. He has received two Distinguished Service Awards for his leadership with 19 design studios over the past 17 years.

Trained in general and internal medicine, psychiatry and clinical research, Dr. Stuart Brown first recognized the importance of play by discovering its absence in the life stories of murders and felony drunken drivers. His years of clinical practice and review of over 6000 personal play histories affirmed the importance and need for healthy play throughout the human life cycle. His independent scholarship and exploration of the evolution and neuroscience of human and animal play have led to the establishment of the National Institute for Play. The Mission of the National Institute for Play (NIFP) is to bring the unrealized knowledge, practices and benefits of play into public life. Dr. Brown was the instigator and Executive Producer of the three-part PBS series, “The Promise of Play,” and coproduced the BBC-PBS series “Soul of the Universe.” His experience as a medical administrator, producer, and scientific consultant or creator to numerous other productions on Joseph Campbell, Cosmology, Animal Play, and Stress, plus his scientific and popular writings have identified him as the foremost “practical champion of the knowledge of play.” Dr. Brown’s book: Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul has been translated into twelve languages. He co-teaches From Play to Innovation at the Hasso Plattner School of Design at Stanford University, and has been the “Key Strategist” for the Nevada Medical Center’s Global Play Science Institute. In 2020 he was awarded the Joe L. Frost award for distinguished research by the USA Play Coalition.  In addition to regular creative scholarly contributions for the PlayCore company, he enjoys other international corporate and academic consulting on play and its many contributions through their engagement with it, as it enhances overall human well-being. As the information base about play grows, it is evident that play is a public health necessity. 

Our species, he says, “is built for play, and built by play.” 

For the past two years I have worked as the Associate Director for Facilities and Programs at Western Michigan University. Prior to that I worked at the University of Vermont and the University of Wisconsin-Stout, primarily overseeing intramural sports programming. I am an active NIRSA member, currently serving on the NIRSA Assembly as the facilitator for the Response & Navigation During Disruptors Work Group. 

I enjoy all aspects of the outdoors and have a goal of visiting all of our nations national parks. I also enjoying cooking, movies, officiating, and cheering for my sports teams. 

Educational Background:
Recreation Management, MS, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Graphic Design & Photography, BFA, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Amber Mateer currently serves as the Associate Director of Campus Recreation at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Their start in collegiate recreation began at UC Santa Cruz, Amber's undergraduate institution. While pursuing Sociology and Art degrees, Amber worked for the Athletics and Recreation department for all four years, among a host of other student life focused offices. After landing a Graduate Assistantship at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California Amber continued to fall in love with the field of collegiate recreation. Although the COVID-19 pandemic made the two years of graduate work very different than expected, collaborating virtually with colleagues both at University of the Pacific and within the NIRSA Assembly became second nature. Amber is currently finishing up their master's thesis which specifically looks at the impact virtual learning has had on the identity formation and process of queer & trans college students.  

Becky’s 27-year career in campus recreation started in the fitness arena as an undergraduate at Central Michigan University and then a GA at Miami-Ohio.  In 2010 Becky made the transition to Oakland University from Northern Illinois University.  At OU Becky is responsible for the oversight of programming and administrative tasks for University Recreation and Well-Being.  Since her arrival to OU, she has been actively engaged in, and directly responsible for creating and rolling out a healthy campus initiative that the OU administration can support.

Becky’s involvement in campus life also includes participation in the summer family orientation program, working closely with the Dean of Students office on various student conduct committees, chairing a subcommittee for the Grizzlies Healthy Planet Initiative, serving as the current President of the Administrative Professionals employee group and she is a member of the School of Health Sciences Board.

Over the years, Becky’s teaching and primary work have been important to her because of the lives she has been able to influence and the numerous people who have crossed her path. She has a passion for the development of people, whether students or employees, and providing opportunities for individuals to be successful in their personal lives, careers, health and well-being.

Kevin leads a comprehensive campus recreation department that supports the health and well-being of the Rowan community. The department supports students through informal recreation, intramural sports, sport clubs, group fitness, personal training, and aquatics programs. Kevin’s energetic team of professional staff, graduate coordinators, and over 200 student and part-time staff supports campus well-being through multiple indoor and outdoor facilities, various and diverse programs and services, and initiatives that provide opportunities for student learning and growth. Through collaborations with a variety of divisions and departments, Kevin leads the integration of a well-being culture across the campus by helping students and employees who are navigating the dimensions of well-being: physical, emotional, community, social, financial, and purpose.

He attended Robert Morris University and obtained a B.S. in Business Administration with a specialization in Sport Management and has a M.E.S. in Sport Management from the University of Florida. While at UF, Kevin served as a graduate assistant of intramural sports at the Recreational Sports Department and served as a Summer Sports & Fitness Intern with the Navy MWR in La Maddalena, Italy. His Rowan University career began at the Rec Center in 2004. An active member of NIRSA – Leaders of Collegiate Recreation, Kevin has been recognized by the association with the Horace Moody Award for Student Development in 2006 and the Region I Award of Merit in 2019.

Kevin resides with his wife and 3 daughters in Haddonfield, NJ and enjoys spending his spare time officiating women’s collegiate basketball and playing in the Rowan Summer Employee Softball League.

Dr. Kirby is a Colorado native that enjoys staying active with her husband and two daughters. She received her Master's degree in Health Promotion from UCCS, and her PhD in Sport and Exercise Science with an emphasis in Social Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity from the University of Northern Colorado. As an assistant professor at UCCS, Dr. Kirby teaches the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of sport, health, and wellness to include Sport Psychology and Health Behavior Theory for undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Kirby's research focuses on exploring the sport and physical activity experiences of individuals across the lifespan, as well as the impact of social connection and peer relationships on psychological well-being in sport and physical activity settings. Dr. Kirby currently serves as Assistant Director for the Center for Critical Sport Studies, and the faculty advisor for the UCCS Fitness Buddies program.

Caitlyn serves as the Employee Wellness Coordinator at Oakland University. She develops, delivers, and evaluates employee wellness programming as well as fosters collaborations with departments on and off campus. She earned her bachelor's and master's from the University of Delaware. She has received a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Health Coaching and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).

With a PhD in Health and Kinesiology, numerous notable honors, and 70+ peer-reviewed publications and research presentations, Russ is passionate about the subject of health and wellness and possesses a vast knowledge on the importance of fitness throughout our lives to share with his audiences. 

Jon Walker is a product manager with GameTime specializing in outdoor fitness equipment and Universal Design. For more than a decade, Jon has worked with parks professionals, health club owners, and colleges and universities to design outdoor gyms based on best-practice design principles. Guided by research from Utah State University Center for Persons With Disabilities, Jon advocates for inclusive outdoor fitness and recreation projects across North America. He speaks at industry events on the benefits of Universal Design and Inclusive Recreation and is a PlayCore-certified instructor for continuing education workshops on the topics of adult outdoor fitness and inclusive recreation.

Ali Cross serves as the director of recreational sports and a member of the student affairs leadership team at Virginia Tech.  In this capacity, she provides leadership to 38 full-time and 600+ part-time employees, two indoor recreational facilities, 20+ acres of outdoor recreation space and recreational programs.    

1. B.S. in Sports Medicine with the Human Performance and Recreation (HPR) at the University of Southern Mississippi  

2. M.S. in Clinical Exercise Physiology with the Human Nutrition Foods and Exercise (HNFE) Department at Virginia Tech  

3. Certified Chi Running Instructor and Coach / Les Mills Instructor / ACE GFI / CPO / ACSM-EP / Facilitator for Discovery Learning, INC CSI

4. National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Faculty from 2015-2018 

Dr. Kirby is a Colorado native that enjoys staying active with her husband and two daughters. She received her Master's degree in Health Promotion from UCCS, and her PhD in Sport and Exercise Science with an emphasis in Social Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity from the University of Northern Colorado. As an assistant professor at UCCS, Dr. Kirby teaches the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of sport, health, and wellness to include Sport Psychology and Health Behavior Theory for undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Kirby's research focuses on exploring the sport and physical activity experiences of individuals across the lifespan, as well as the impact of social connection and peer relationships on psychological well-being in sport and physical activity settings. Dr. Kirby currently serves as Assistant Director for the Center for Critical Sport Studies, and the faculty advisor for the UCCS Fitness Buddies program.

David is originally from Wisconsin and received a B.S. in Communication Studies with a specialization in Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.  He began his career path in collegiate recreation at La Crosse as an intramural sport official and supervisor.  David then served as the graduate assistant for intramural sports at Oregon State University, where he earned his M.S. in College Student Service Administration.  He continued at OSU for 17 years serving as a Coordinator of Sport Clubs, Assistant Director of Sport Clubs and Intramural Sports, and the Associate Director of Programs.  In 2017, David transitioned to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs to become the Associate Director and is currently the Director of Campus Recreation.   David leads a comprehensive campus recreation department that supports the health and well-being of the UCCS community. David resides in Colorado Springs with his family where they can often be seen participating in local recreational activities.

Katie Smith is a health and wellness professional with over ten years of experience in higher education and student affairs. She graduated with her Masters in Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech in 2014, where she got her start in campus recreation. For the past seven years, she served as the Wellness Promotion Manager at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Her professional interests include program design and implementation, strategic planning, mental health prevention, and body activism. Katie now resides in Charlottesville, Virginia with her family. 

Lindsey Visscher is a Health Promotion graduate student at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She enjoys staying active by hiking the beautiful Colorado trails and training in martial arts such as Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. During her time at UCCS, Lindsey is focusing on studying the psychosocial cornerstones of wellness. She is interested in researching the cross-over between the mind and the body, especially regarding the importance of emotion regulation, social connection, and motivation in health behavior patterns. Lindsey currently serves as the UCCS Wellness Promotion graduate assistant, and works closely with the Wellness Center team to provide psychoeducation to students, faculty, and staff on campus. Lindsey also served as Dr. Kirby’s lead research assistant for the NIRSA grant-funded project “Mountain Lions on the Move”, which studied the impact of social connection and peer relationships on psychological well-being in sport and physical activity settings. After graduation, Lindsey hopes to use her Master’s degree in Health Promotion to assist in creating impactful health interventions, and optimizing the wellness of those in her community. 

Starting in mid-February, Greg began leading the Programs team for the University of Washington Recreation. He has the chance to serve the areas of Fitness, Personal Training, Mindfulness, Intramural Sports and Rec Clubs. He also leads the Staff Development program. Prior to the University of Washington, Greg worked for the University of Utah, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Florida State University. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Sport Management at Florida State University, where he began working as a student in their Campus Recreation Department. He also obtained his Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership & Policy at the University of Utah. 

Greg has served in NIRSA on various committees and work groups since 2014. He also serves NIRSA through presenting at state, regional, and national conferences. He is a member of the NIRSA Health and Wellbeing Task Force 2.0 where he works with the Education and Resources sub-committee and the Promising Practices Work Group. He is also the 2022 recipient of the Horace Moody Award for Student Development for Region VI.