Professor Marisa Hastie was named a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) at the organization's 66^th annual meeting this spring. The fellowship is the ACSM's highest member distinction in recognition of academic research, work within the ACSM regional and national organizations, and service in the field.

Within the ACSM, approximately only three percent of members hold this elite distinction - and of that three percent, only one-third are women. For Hastie, her appointment was a big step for female leadership in the applied sciences.

"I am thrilled for Marisa," said Cris Haverty, associate dean of the School of Health Sciences at Lasell.

"Her ACSM fellowship appointment represents her deep commitment to the field of exercise science and excellence in research and pedagogy."

Hastie was previously the Northwest chapter president of the ACSM and, during her time at Lasell College, has been an active member-at-large within the New England chapter. She currently chairs the chapter's scholarship awards committee, which provides research funding to regional students at the undergraduate and graduate level.

At the national level, Hastie was nominated to serve on the ACSM's professional education committee for a three-year term. According to Hastie, the committee oversees continuing education credits for ACSM certifications.

"We look at learning outcomes, applications, and how and when credits are offered," she says. "Eventually we hope to move into oversight of online portals and continuing education in the field."

Hastie recently published an article in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the ACSM. Hastie partnered with Jamie Faro '08, a lecturer at Lasell College and postdoctoral research fellow at UMass Medical School, to examine the overlap between functional resistance training and social physique anxiety in college-age students. New research has Hastie working with a Lasell undergraduate student to examine motivators and barriers to physical activity at Lasell Village.

"Students at Lasell College are fortunate to have Marisa's expertise as an educator, research, and leader," said Haverty.