Department

Kinesiology

Education

• Washington University of St. Louis, School of Medicine, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 1998-2001

• University of Georgia, Ph.D., 1998

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, M.S., 1990

• Western Illinois University, B.S., 1987

Background

• Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education, Mary Frances Early College of Education, University of Georgia, Athens GA, 2017-2022.
• Associate Professor & Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens GA, 2010-2022.
• Assistant Professor & Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL, 2001-2010.

Awards and Honors

• Fellow, National Academy of Kinesiology, 2016
• Women's Leadership Fellowship Program, University of Georgia, 2015
• College of Applied Health Studies Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research Award, UIUC, 2009
• Faculty Award (Graduate Student Mentorship), Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Association, Division of Nutritional Sciences, UIUC, 2008
• National Institute on Aging Summer Institute on Aging Research, 2003
• Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine, 2002
• National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health, 1999-2001

Scholarly Interest

The goal of Dr. Evans' research program is to create and disseminate knowledge regarding the utility of habitual exercise/physical activity, healthful diet practices, and body composition and weight management to enhance functional fitness, broadly defined to include physical, psychosocial, and cognitive outcomes. Populations of interest include middle-older adults and college students with a special interest in women's health. Initially trained as a clinical exercise physiologist, her research program has become more translational in recent years and is mainly focused on effective and sustainable exercise/physical activity and nutrition programs and interventions. Dr. Evans is also highly invested in team science and her research program has been greatly enhanced through effective collaborations with talented graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and colleagues, who have varied expertise in nutrition, biomedical imaging, behavioral science and psychology, and implementation science.

Her complete CV is available here (accurate as of 10/05/2022).

NIH NLM My Bibliography

Selected Publications

Articles

Berg AC, Johnson KB, Straight CR, Reed RA, O'Connor PJ, Evans EM, Johnson MA. (2018). Flexible eating behavior predicts greater weight loss following a diet and exercise intervention in older women. Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology & Geriatrics, 37(1):14-29, DOI: 10.1080/21551197.2018.1435433.

Higgins S, Sokolowski CM, Vishwanathan M, Anderson JG, Schmidt MD, Lewis RD, Evans EM. (2018). Predicting diaphyseal cortical bone status using measures of muscle force capacity. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 50(7): 1433-1441, DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001581.

Straight CR, Berg AC, Reed RA, Johnson MA, Evans EM. (2018). Reduced body weight or increased muscle quality: Which is more important for improving physical function following exercise and weight loss in overweight and obese older women? Experimental Gerontology, 108:159-165, DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2018.04.011

Rees-Punia E, Evans EM, Schmidt MD, Gay JL, Matthews CE, Gapstur, Patel AV. (2019). Mortality risk reductions for replacing sedentary time with physical activities. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(5):736-741, DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.12.006.

Higgins S, Sokolowski CM, Vishwanathan M, Schmidt MD, Evans EM, Lewis RD. (2020). Sex-specific, muscular mediation of the relationship between physical activity and cortical bone in young adults. Journal of Bone & Mineral Research, 35(1):81-91, DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.3868.

Evans EM, Castillo-Hernaéndez IM. (2020). Midlife functional fitness: A key to successful aging. Invited article for the 2020 themed issue titled „ Refocusing life span to health span: Making every age count „. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal. 24(5):38-45. [peer-reviewed practitioner journal].

Higgins S, Smith AN, Williams ER, Das BM, Fedewa MV, Evans EM. (2021). Sex-specific correlates of metabolic syndrome risk in college-aged young adults, Journal of American College Health, FEB12: 1-8, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1869751.

Evans EM, Reed RA, Straight CR, Berg AC, Rowe DA, Johnson MA. (2021). Exercise and protein effects on strength and function with weight loss in older women. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 53(1):183-191, DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002429.

Frederick GM, Castillo-Hernaéndez IM, Williams ER, Singh AA, Evans EM. (2021). Differences in physical activity and perceived benefits and barriers to physical activity between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ college students. Journal of American College Health, 70:7, 2085-2090, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1842426.

Frederick GM, Williams ER, Castillo-Hernaéndez IM, Evans EM. (2020). Physical activity and perceived benefits, but not barriers, to exercise differ by sex and school year among college students. Journal of American College Health, 70:5, 1426-1433, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1800711.

Frederick GM, O'Connor PJ, Schmidt MD,Evans EM. (2021). Relationships between components of the 24-hour activity cycle and feelings of energy and fatigue in college students: A systematic review. Mental Health & Physical Activity, 21:100409, DOI: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2021.100409.

Frederick GM, Bub KL, Boudreaux BD, Schmidt MD, O'Connor PJ, Evans EM. (2022). Associations among sleep quality, sedentary behavior, physical activity, and feelings of energy and fatigue differ for male and female college students. Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior, 10:1, 40-53, DOI: 10.1080/21641846.2022.2034472.

Wilson H, Averill B, Cook G, Campbell C, Dallas, J, Evans EM, . . . Berg AC. (2022). Implementation of the National Diabetes Prevention Program in FCS Extension during the COVID-19 pandemic: Participant experiences, lessons learned.Journal of Family & Consumer Science, 114(3):11-19. https://www.aafcs.org/resources/publications-products/journal-consumer-sciences.

Books

Evans EM, Guest DD, Valentine RJ, Brady AE. (2013). Chapter 8: Healthy lifestyles in old age: Integrating physical activity with nutrition to maintain a healthy body composition and prevent disability, In: Chodzko-Zajko W (Ed.) ACSM's Exercise for Older Adults. Baltimore, USA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Brady AO, Berg AC, Johnson MA, Evans EM. (2015). Physical activity and exercise: Important complements to nutrition in older adults, In C.W. Bales, J. Locher, E. Saltzman (Eds) Handbook of Clinical Nutrition in Aging, (pp. 355-374). Third Edition. New York, USA: Springer

Armbruster CA, Evans EM, Sherwood-Laughlin CM. (2019) Fitness and wellness: A way of life. Human Kinetics Publishers.

Das BM, Frederick GM, Evans EM. (2022; in print). Movement prescription for apparently healthy adults. In W.R. Thompson & C. Ozemek (Eds.) ACSM's Clinical Exercise Physiology, 2nd Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams, & Wilkins.