February 21, 2023
By Tessa Chilton
Jessica Murfree 21’ was recently selected as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Sports. Her work is opening the public dialogue around issues in sport ecology and environmental conditions for athletes.
Murfree earned a bachelors of arts in exercise and sport science with a concentration in sport administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015. Originally planning to become a marine veterinarian, Murfree said “I slowly fell out of love with that and as someone who played soccer competitively, I started to fall back in love with sports.” In 2018, she graduated with a masters of arts in kinesiology with a sport management concentration from the University of Alabama.
Her passion for learning didn’t stop there. After earning her masters, Murfree made her way to Louisville, K.Y., and started her doctor of philosophy in educational leadership and organization development with a specialization in sport administration.
In this Q&A interview, Murfree reflected on the Forbes award and her career thus far.
Q: What inspired you to combine sports and environmental work?
Murfree: I wanted a career where I could show up every day as my full self and the relationship between climate and sports became harder and harder to ignore. While I was working in athletics, I noticed that we could prepare all we wanted for a game but ultimately, we would have to adapt to the environment. That really opened my eyes, and I realized that this is something I’ve cared about since I was a child. I’ve always been a fighter for climate action but when I realized how that I could pair that with sports my career goals came together.
Q: Did any particular classes or professors have an impact on you during your PhD?
Murfree: Absolutely. First and foremost, would be Dr. Mary Brydon-Miller. I had her for my first class and she’s an expert in climate change. The way she taught us to think shaped the way that I think to this day. Dr. Kevin Rose, who’s not at UofL anymore, also really challenged the way I learn. He fostered an environment that allowed us to demonstrate our learning in a way that made sense for us. This was so impactful for me and it’s the way I like to teach now.
I also had monumental learning experiences just walking up and down the hall in the HSS department. I would meet outside of class with Dr. Marion Hambrick and Dr. Evan Frederick often, and those were the moments that transformed my learning. I was always able to come back to class with an even deeper understanding of the material. I really learned how to be a good teacher at UofL. Professor Gin Presley, Dr. Megan Shreffler, Professor Anita Moorman and many more gave me the strategies and tools that I use every day.
Q: Tell me about your experience at Texas A&M University.
Murfree: I am an ACES assistant professor in sport management there. ACES is a faculty fellowship program designed to support and uplift faculty from underrepresented groups in research and stands for accountability, climate, equity and scholarship.
I’ve taught several classes in sport management where students can do a lot of personal exploration. However, my time here has also given me a lot of creative space to ask the questions I want answers to. I spend a lot of my time connecting with scholars and honing my craft as a researcher. I have also served as a leader for the Michael E. DeBakey Executive Research Leadership Program. That program connects researchers and undergraduate students to form interdisciplinary teams and explore research questions. Overall, the fellowship has opened a lot of time, opportunity and resources for me to become an autonomous scholar.
Q: Talk to me about Forbes 30 under 30. How did you feel when you won that award?
Murfree: It was shocking honestly. I knew I had been nominated for the award because I had to send in letters of support and a statement, but I really thought it was a shot in the dark. To this day I still have no idea who nominated me.
I found out while I was in Australia for a conference. I got a text early one morning from my friend Ben Trachtman from undergrad. Back then, we always joked about which one of us would make it on the 30 Under 30 list first. His message was in all caps, something along the lines of “CONGRATS!!! You’ve done it!” I checked my email and I saw the congratulations letter from Forbes. So, I’m in Australia, looking out at the beach, reading this email and thinking that this must be a dream. I was the only academic on the Sports list and it made me feel like I’m doing something right. It’s nice to know that not only does my work make sense to me, but not it’s starting to make sense to other people.
Q: What advice would you share with current CEHD students?
Murfree: My advice would be to never settle on what you know, what you don’t know, and what you like. Try something new and take a calculated risk. Maybe that means introducing yourself to someone new, taking an odd elective course or studying abroad. When you’re not a student anymore you don’t get to make those kinds of decisions consequence-free, so I encourage people to take a chance on themselves because you never know what’s on the other side.
Murfree was also quoted in the inaugural issue of Sports Illustrated Climate.
Follow Jessica Murfree on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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See Jessica Murfree’s Public Scholarship below:
United Nations Environment Programme (2022). Sports for Nature: Setting a baseline – Handbook. [Orr, M., Pippard, J., Arbieu, U., Casper, J., Kellison, T., Howell, J., Ross, W., Murfree, J., McCullough, B., & Trendafilova, S. (authors)]. Nairobi, Kenya. https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sports-nature-setting-baseline-handbook
Sport Ecology Group (2022, August). The fourth annual sport ecology reading list, Summer 2022. https://www.sportecology.org/teaching
Murfree, J. R., & Brison, N. T. (2022, July 19). Heat risk and young athletes — rising temperatures lead to lawsuits and environmental injustice. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/heat-risk-and-young-athletes-rising-temperatures-lead-to-lawsuits-and-environmental-injustice-185189
Note: Reprinted (2022, July 20). In PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-extreme-heat-affects-young-athletes
Note: Reprinted (2022, July 19). In Yahoo! News. https://news.yahoo.com/too-hot-handle-climate-considerations-122636370.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma
Murfree, J. R. (2022, April 21). Why the impact of climate change on sport is an environmental justice problem. Global Sport Matters. The Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University. https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/04/21/climate-change-sport-environmental-justice-problem/
Sport Ecology Group (2021, June). The third annual sport ecology reading list, Summer 2021. https://www.sportecology.org/teaching
Murfree, J. R., Swim, N. M., & Police, C. P. (2020, May 8). Youth sport concussions: Nonstandard standards of care. Sports Litigation Alert, 17(9). http://www.sportslitigationalert.com/
Note: Reprinted (2020, July 3). In Concussion Litigation Reporter. https://concussionpolicyandthelaw.com/concussion-litigation-reporter/
Note: Reprinted (2020, July 3). In Sports Law Expert [Blog post]. https://sportslawexpert.com/2020/07/03/louisville-sport-administration-doctoral-students-write-about-youth-sport-concussion-legislation/
If you’re interested in a PhD in Educational Leadership and Organization Development with a specialization in Sport Administration, click here for more information.
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