Studorschka Interdisciplinary Research Endowment

While a student at Purdue, Travis Dorsch, found that his research interest of parents and families of young athletes was best approached when he worked within multiple disciplines. By continuing to work within both Health and Kinesiology and Human Development and Family Science, he learned of the Center for Families and its funding program. He applied and received funding from the Center for Families in 2011, which solidified his area of research. After receiving his PhD from Purdue, he established the Families in Sports Lab at Utah State University, where he is an Associate Professor.

From his experience as a student at Purdue and the Center, Travis and Dr. Bree Studenka, wanted to make sure other students were able to succeed on their academic journey. Their creation of Studorschka Interdisciplinary Research Endowment supports graduate students as they navigate their research across multiple disciplines in an effort to contribute to improving the lives of all families.

In 2014, Travis and Bree gave their first gift to the Center for Families which supported Zachary Gold for Preschoolers’ Physical, Social, and Engineering Play Behaviors: Differences in Gender and Play Environment. Child development, early education, and engineering.