University of Hawaiʻi at M膩noa graduate student Emily Heintzelman is using lessons learned as a Division I beach volleyball student–athlete to shape her future in public health.

Originally from Sydney, Australia, Heintzelman is pursuing a Master of Public Health degree in the while completing her final collegiate athletic season. Her volleyball career has taken her around the world, including competitions in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, New Zealand and Germany.

“Being an athlete has taught me discipline, resilience, and how to work within a team,” said Heintzelman. “These skills don鈥檛 apply just to sports, but are also just as important when tackling complex public health challenges.”

Heintzelman earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in in spring 2025, with minors in public health and health and wellness. She now specializes in Health Policy and Management, focusing on health equity, access to care.

From athletics to advocacy

“As an athlete, I鈥檝e seen firsthand how access to care, communication within healthcare systems, and advocacy can impact outcomes,” she said. “Those experiences have reinforced my interest in pursuing policy work that improves access and ensures that individuals feel heard and supported within healthcare systems.”

In fall 2025, Heintzelman was one of only two student–athletes selected to represent 糖心Vlog官方 at the American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Beach Pairs National Championship.

“You鈥檙e not just playing for yourself—you鈥檙e representing your teammates, your coaches and the whole university,” she said.

Heintzelman hopes to use data and policy to expand healthcare access, particularly in women驶s health.

“Being a student–athlete has taught me that success is rarely about individual performance, it鈥檚 about teamwork, communication, and showing up consistently, even when it鈥檚 hard,” she said. “In public health, those same principles apply. You鈥檙e working with diverse groups of people, often across disciplines, to solve complex problems. The ability to listen, adapt and stay committed to a shared goal is critical.”

Heintzelman said she is grateful for the support she has received along the way.

“My teammates have become like family, along with the coaches who have believed in me, my parents and sister who have supported me at each step along my journey, and for the opportunities sport has given me,” she said. “Volleyball has shaped who I am in so many ways, and I carry those lessons with me as I move forward into a career in public health.”

More than 100 student-athletes were honored on April 9, at the Sixth Annual Student-Athlete Academics Honors Reception in the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center. A total of 112 student-athletes achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3.

Men’s soccer player David Mayser served as the scholar-athlete speaker, and Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences Professor Lincoln Gotshalk was recognized with the Faculty Appreciation Award.

For full list of honorees, go to

A physiologist at the is investigating how stress hormones affect the bodies and brains of student-athletes who repetitively fly to the U.S. continent for away games. Linc Gotshalk, a professor of and director at 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo, is heading the study, which focuses on data collected from 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo athletes.

“We鈥檙e on an island. That means that athletic teams who do not have home games here on the island, but all away games, they have to fly, and flight can be a perturbation, which means it can be a stress factor,” said Gotshalk, a musculoskeletal physiologist, anatomist and exercise physiologist.

贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 travel challenges

Traditionally, 贬补飞补颈ʻ颈鈥檚 college athletes are amongst the most-traveled, by far. Last season the 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo women鈥檚 volleyball team played 12 away games and racked up more than 16,000 air miles. However, recent shake-ups in college athletics conferences are reshaping the playing field, and more athletes across the nation will face an increase in travel distances.

Flight effects on body

According to Gotshalk, two notable stressors that can impact the body are changes in cabin pressure in flight, and changes in time zones. In the study, 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo student research assistants help Gotshalk hone in on the presence of cortisol which increases as humans are exposed to stressors.

“What we鈥檙e studying is stress physiology, which includes huge amounts of hormonal changes due to stress,” explained Gotshalk. “Stress in the short term is a needed thing in life, so you can run from the tiger, so you can fight a war, whatever it be. [But] psychogenic stress, where you鈥檙e not actually using energy, can pump stuff into the system that鈥檚 meant to be used. That, then, repeatedly ends up being a problem because stuff gets put in inappropriate places after a while.”

Excess amounts of cortisol can lead to chronic health conditions such as diabetes, Gotshalk said.

A closer look

Student researchers at 糖心Vlog官方 Hilo compared data collected from female athletes on the campus鈥� volleyball team.

“My peers and I got hands-on experience of cortisol testing with the 糖心Vlog官方 women鈥檚 volleyball team,” a student investigator involved with the study said. “We did anthropometric measurements and took saliva samples pre and post season on the volleyball team to see if there was a correlation between stress and traveling east.”

The research team found a correlation between cortisol rise, body measurements and biological characteristics however the results of the study are not yet conclusive and will be published at a later date.

—By Evangeline Lemieux, a 2023 graduate with baccalaureate degrees in English and medical anthropology