Principal Investigator – Kimberly Squires
she/her
PhD, RECE, OCT
Contact: ksquires@uoguelph.ca
Kimberly Squires is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph. She is a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) and Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT) and has previously worked in both child care and school-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. The majority of her teaching focuses on courses related to the Bachelor of Applied Science Child Studies program. Her research focuses on a variety of aspects of ECEC with a specific interest in outdoor and nature play and pre-service and in-service educator learning.
Graduate Students
Alanis Sanchez Nolte (she/her)
Alanis is pursuing a master’s degree in Family Relations and Human Development at the University of Guelph. Her focus is on exploring how structured play can impact children with neurodevelopment disorders, such as autism. Alanis aims to contribute to evidence-based practices in educational settings and to be a a part of interdisciplinary teams in both research and community support settings.
Katie McPhee (she/her)
Katie is a first-year MSc student in the Family Relations and Human Development program at the University of Guelph where she has also completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology. During her undergraduate degree, she completed a co-op placement at the University of Guelph Child Care and Learning Centre and continued her employment there for a total of two years. With her experience working in early childhood education, she understands the significant impact of the learning environment on children’s overall wellbeing. She is particularly passionate about protecting and supporting children’s mental health in the classroom and exploring inclusive practices for children with disabilities and exceptionalities.
Undergraduate Students
Honours Thesis
Christina Corsano (she/her)
Christina is a BAH Psychology student minoring in Family and Child Studies at the University of Guelph. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate honours thesis under the guidance of Dr. Kimberly Squires, investigating outdoor play and nature-based pedagogy. With practical experience as a Program Facilitator and Leadership Supervisor within Early Childhood Education and Care settings, she is passionate about enhancing and supporting children’s development. Her career aspirations lie in child and adolescent psychotherapy, aiming to identify and address the mental health needs of young individuals to significantly contribute to their holistic well-being.
Rohail Raza (he/him)
Rohail has diverse undergraduate research experiences working with teams across UofG, UofT, Sun Life and CIBC. His work with Dr. Kim focuses on early childhood learning, using mixed-methods to evaluate the role of play in shaping young children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Rohail also advocates that young children display autonomous behaviours during play by influencing their and others’ play interactions. He considers the role of educator facilitation and features of play spaces to understand how children’s autonomy is enabled. Research interests: Socio-emotional development, physical development, children’s autonomy, child-participatory research methods, outdoor nature play, non-social play, and early childhood educator pedagogies and professional development.