VIURRSpace
The Libraries of Royal Roads University and Vancouver Island University collaboratively offer VIURRSpace to digitally preserve and showcase selected scholarly and creative works of the universities, together with special collections that represent the unique character of the region.
Recent Submissions
Item Indigenous Engagement in Canadian Organizations: Building a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging for Indigenous Employees(2026)This dissertation explores how Canadian for-profit, non-Indigenous organizations may promote cultures of inclusion and belonging for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis employees. Grounded in social constructionism, the study followed an action-oriented, qualitative approach, engaging Indigenous employees and organizational leaders through interviews and focus groups. The findings reveal that current diversity, equity, and inclusion frameworks are insufficient for addressing the unique histories and rights of Indigenous Peoples. Instead, organizations must move beyond performative reconciliation toward relational accountability, decolonizing systems, and integrating Indigenous worldviews into organizational structures. The study presents a model for understanding the path organizations may take to move from performative to transformative actions as well as a decolonization audit cycle to guide organizations in shifting from transactional to relational practices. This work contributes to both scholarship and practice by offering pathways for organizations to engage ethically, advance reconciliation, and support Indigenous sovereignty within the Canadian workplace.Item A Part Not Apart: A First-Person Exploration of the Role of Reciprocity in Decolonizing Relationships(2026)Conducted in adherence with Royal Roads University requirements, this research explored the question: How might I develop my capacity for reciprocity as part of my decolonization journey? Addressing this question was central to my personal and professional growth, as it enabled me to identify and overcome barriers to connection. Participants included trusted friends and subject matter experts who shared their knowledge about the ways music elicits different emotions in listeners and how to inhabit a relationship with the land. Applying first-person action research methodology with arts- and land-based research methods, this research incorporated recorded video reflections, music-inspired drawing, storytelling, and land-based feedback conversations. The findings revealed that embodying reciprocity involves a fundamental change in how I understand myself in relation to everything else in creation, sentient and nonsentient, living and nonliving. Key recommendations emphasize increasing capacity for reciprocity by embodying curiosity, accountability, connection, vulnerability, creativity, and humility.Item In-vivo force-length relationship of the medial gastrocnemius muscle in Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders(Journal of Musculoskeletal & Neuronal Interactions, 2026-03-01)Objectives: To determine the force-length relationship, muscle thickness (MT), pennation angle (PA) and echo-intensity (EI) of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) in HSD/hEDS compared to healthy controls.Item To what extent do the muscles and tendons influence metabolic cost and exercise tolerance in the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders?(Elsevier, 2025-11-17)Individuals with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) often experience chronic pain, muscle fatigue, and exercise intolerance, potentially due to altered muscle-tendon mechanics. This study investigated the influence of Achilles tendon (AT) compliance and plantar flexor muscle function on the metabolic cost of walking in individuals with and without HSD/hEDS.Item The energy cost of cyclic muscle contractions at different initial muscle-tendon unit lengths derived from near-infrared spectroscopy(American Physiological Society, 2025-10-08)During locomotion, the plantarflexor muscle fascicles appear to operate on the ascending limb of its maximal force-length relationship, producing less force per unit activation and elevating the energy cost (EC) compared with contractions performed at optimal length (Lo). The EC of the medial gastrocnemius muscle was quantified at different initial muscle-tendon unit lengths by having participants perform 30 submaximal fixed-end contractions at an ankle joint angle associated with 0.85Lo, Lo, and 1.15Lo in a random order, cyclically targeting 50% of the maximal force at 0.85Lo. EC was quantified from near-infrared spectroscopy during blood flow occlusion and EMG quantified MG muscle activity. Mean EC was 36 ± 24% higher at 0.85Lo (P = 0.005) compared with Lo. Mean EC at 1.15Lo (2 ± 27% lower) was similar to that at Lo (P = 0.81), despite lower forces at 0.85Lo (P = 0.02), and similar absolute fascicle shortening (P = 0.10), and shortening velocity (P = 0.52). Muscle activity was approximately twofold higher at 0.85Lo (P = 0.001). The EC per unit activation was similar across lengths (P = 0.45), whereas the EC per unit force was significantly higher at 0.85Lo compared with Lo and 1.15Lo (P = 0.008). Together, these results demonstrate a significant increase in the cost of cyclically producing force at short initial muscle-tendon unit lengths, due to a lower force potential at that initial muscle fascicle length, which we surmise is a result of a lower cross-bridge force and not a higher energetic cost of activation.
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