Dr. Michelle Russell-Mayhew
Positions
Associate Dean Research
Werklund School of Education, Academic Support Offices
Professor
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Counselling Psychology
Registered Psychologist
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Counselling Psychology
Affiliations
Child Health & Wellness Researcher
Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute
Contact information
Web presence
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 220-8375
Location
Office: EDT342
For media enquiries, contact
Clayton MacGillivray
Content and Media Specialist
Email: clmacgil@ucalgary.ca
Twitter: @UCalgaryEduc
Background
Educational Background
Doctor of Philosophy Counselling Psychology, University of Calgary, 2003
M.Sc. Counselling Psychology, University of Calgary, 1998
B.Sc. Psychology, University of Calgary, 1994
Biography
The primary objective of my research program is to lead and transform research about weight-related issues like body image (perceptions, attitudes, and experiences about the body), disordered eating (e.g., unhealthy methods of weight change), weight-related disorders (e.g., obesity and eating disorders) and professional conversations and interactions about weight (e.g., weight bias). Body weight and body image (feelings and perceptions about our bodies) are both important to well-being and healthy development. My research is informed by clinical and research experience in interdisciplinary team contexts, as well as linkages between my work in academia and committee work with policy-makers and community partners.
My professional journey working with weight-related issues is influenced and fueled by a deeply personal and sometimes troubled relationship with my own body. No one is immune to the cultural discourses about weight. In my work, I reflect on the personal, professional and political ‘situatedness’ of my research and aspire to embody the change I wish to see in the world.
My social science research program is located between health and education as I have advanced knowledge and practices in both fields. This ‘in-between’ area allows research on obesity prevention that avoids costly competing health issues of eating disorders, disordered eating, and associated mental health issues. The complexity of weight-related issues requires integrative strategies across multiple health outcomes which I have demonstrated in my research related to school health and wellbeing. My research program has resulted in transdisciplinary networks – communities of practice – that study and implement educational strategies associated with obesity and eating disorders to ensure consistent messaging across sectors and settings, from public and professional education to primary health care. I have extensive experience and success in initiating communities of practice where academic and non-academic stakeholders work together to design and implement research for immediate and sustained impact. My research questions, methods, and dissemination occur in the following three communities (Weight Bias Research Teams, Body Image Research Lab, and Teachers of Tomorrow) where I directly collaborate with stakeholders impacted by the research. This forward-thinking approach demonstrates my ability to work effectively within and across disciplines with graduate students, community partners, researchers, academics, policy makers, and practitioners.
Research
Areas of Research
- Body image
- Weight stigma
- Eating disorders
- Obesity
- Weight-neutral approaches to education and health care
- Collaborative, school-based research
- Counselling and health issues
- School-based health promotion and prevention programs
- Mental health and well-being
- Comprehensive School Health
My Body Image Research Lab uses a nested method of supervision where postdoctoral scholars contribute to the supervision of doctoral students who in turn contribute to the supervision of master’s students. This creates dozens of collaborative teams working together to advance knowledge and impact. This layered type of research experience grows students’ competence and confidence and is in alignment with my belief in communities of learning and providing opportunities for mentoring and mentorship. I am a nationally recognized supervisor having supervised to completion 58 graduate students (41 masters/17 doctoral) and 9 postdoctoral scholars.
I am a nationally recognized supervisor (UCalgary Graduate Research Supervision Award 2018 and Canadian Psychological Association Feminist Mentor Award 2018). My trainees have won major national awards, including a CIHR Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship and a SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. Six of my nine former postdoctoral scholars (some of whom were graduate students) are currently in tenure-track professor (3 associate; 3 assistant) positions in North America, and others have held high-level research positions (i.e., National Institute of Health, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, US Department of Health).
My Body Image Research Lab provides opportunities for (a) collaboration on existing data sets and research projects; (b) contributions to research supervision of undergraduate and master's students; (c) participation in within- and across- faculties research team meetings on interdisciplinary projects and across universities on provincial and national projects; and (d) dissemination opportunities both written and oral in individual and group contexts. I aim to create a research milieu that is a collaborative learning experience, capitalize on individual strengths, provide opportunities to be mentored and be a mentor, create interdisciplinary skills, and directly in line with the future career objectives of each student. My supervision follows a scientist-practitioner model and involves intensive individual supervision as well as at least monthly group supervision in the lab.
The Teachers of Tomorrow (TOT) initiative targets students in Bachelor of Education (BEd) programs prior to their involvement in K-12 schools with innovative strategies to promote systemic change around wellness practices. By focusing on both the “what” (curriculum) and the “how” (pedagogy), TOT strengthens the impetus for organizational changes within BEd programs to better prepare future teachers in addressing their own wellbeing and enhancing wellbeing throughout K-12 and postsecondary settings. This is accomplished by using the Comprehensive School Health (CSH) framework, the gold standard for schools around the world. CSH enhances students’ abilities to learn and provides a multi-faceted structure for improving wellness within school communities. I have been co-leading this work with Ever Active Schools for over a decade. Empowering K-12 teachers to create healthy school communities positively impacts their own wellness and their ability to address health with students.
The PodClass: Conversations on School Health is a 59-episode podcast series with professionally edited interviews. More than 55 invited experts discuss topics concerning school health. As a podcast series, it is available through the Ever Active Schools website and Spotify, Apple, and other podcast platforms where anyone can access it for free. As of June 2025, there are 26.3k unique listeners, 61.1k downloads in 88 countries.
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Projects
Dr. Russell-Mayhew is a national leader in mental health research and translation, bridging the gap between the eating disorder and obesity fields to find integrative and preventative interventions. Through skillful integration of social and medical sciences, and deep collaboration with practitioners, Dr. Russell-Mayhew has changed how we understand the effects of weight bias on mental health. She is leading a transformation in wellness teaching and practice. Select sample of active projects:
2025. Risk to Resilience: A strengths-based approach to understanding how identity-related experiences shape relations with the body, food, and physical activity in young sexual and gender minority adults. SSHRC Insight Development Grant. $57,556. Co-Applicant. PI: Barbeau. Co applicant: Maroney.
2025. The relationship between body image and determinants of food choice in the postpartum period. Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research (CFDR) 2025 Research Grants Competition. $20,000. Co-applicant. PIs: Leticia Radin Pereira & Isabella Barbosa Pereira Carneiro
2025. An art-based engagement ethnography of newcomer student wellness in French and English institutions of higher education in Canada. SSHRC Insight Grant. $294,355. Co-Applicant. PI: Kassan. Co-Applicants: Papazian-Zohrabian & Eryigit-Madzwamuse.
2025. WIISE: Women's International and Intersectional Weight Stigma Exploration; An international and intersectional exploration of weight stigma across the life course of
Women. Open Research Area 8 for the Social Sciences; SSHRC (Canada), DFG (Germany), ESRC (United Kingdom); $351,280 (Canada), €451,944 (Germany), £406,359.20 (UK)
PI's: Taniya Nagpal (Canada), Shelina Visram (UK), Claudia Luck-Sikorski (Germany)
Co-Applicants: Angela Alberga (Canada), Nicola Heslehurst (UK), Elizabeth Evans (UK), Judith Rankin (UK), Ruth Graham (UK), Mark Rubin (UK)
2024. Largely invisible: Understanding the complexities of weight stigma in career development. SSHRC Insight Grant. $99,995. Principal. Co-applicants: Nutter & Woodend; Collaborator: Arthur (Australia).
2024. Teachers of Tomorrow: Mobilizing partnerships for school wellness across the education system. SSHRC Partnership Development Grant ($199, 998). PRINCIPAL. Co-director: Kerri Murray, Ever Active Schools. Co-Applicants: Drs. Barbeau-Julien, Gabel, & Ferber.
2024. Part of the community: Development of accessible, research-based weight-neutral resources to support collective wellbeing. UCalgary Teaching and Learning Grant ($15,000). Principal. Partners: Kheana Barbeau-Julien and Elizabeth Tingle
2023. Equity at every size: Developing a national weight stigma strategy. SSHRC Partnership Development Grant. ($187, 703). Co-Applicant. Primary Applicant: Sarah Nutter
Awards
- Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association , Canadian Psychological Association. 2024
- Killam Research Excellence Award , University of Calgary and Killam Laureates. 2023
- D2L Innovation Award, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. 2022
- Werklund Research Professor Werklund School of Education, Werklund School of Education. 2020
- Canadian Psychological Association Feminist Mentorship Award, Canadian Psychological Association . 2018
- WSE Community Engagement Award, 2019
- UCalgary Teaching and Learning Award for Full-Time Academic, 2019
- UCalgary Teaching and Learning Award for Graduate Research Supervision, 2018
- UCalgary teaching and Learning Award for Educational Leadership (Group), 2018
- Werklund Research Excellence Award, Werklund School of Education. 2018
- Distinguished Research Lecture Award, Werklund School of Education. 2016
In the News
- This year, consider resolutions focused on well-being instead of weight loss. . The Conversation. (2025)
- Werklund School of Education Pedagogy Vignette. (2024)
- When we know better, we do better: A conversation about creating weight-neutral schools. . PHE Journal. (2024)
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