Memorial researcher Matthew White got some national exposure in a special report in the Tuesday, March 9, issue of the Globe and Mail.

Mr. White, who is completing his PhD in education, was featured in a special section of the paper highlighting innovative research taking place on post-secondary campuses across the country.

The 23-year-old student – one of this country’s youngest PhD students – is focusing his studies on video games. In particular he’s interested in why so few females are interested in them.

In the feature, Mr. White told the Globe he believes there are educational benefits to playing the games.

“It’s not the brainless vegetation activity we previously thought it was,” he said in the article which appears on page E5. “But I think there’s certainly a place for video games in children’s lives.”

Mr. White is currently completing his PhD studies at Memorial under the supervision of Dr. Bruce Mann.

He's participating in a game developer's conference this week and will present at the Canadian Game Studies Association conference in Montreal in May.

Last year he was one of only 25 recipients worldwide to receive a scholarship to attend the 2009 Game Developers Conference in the United States.

He also participated in the Tokyo Game Show in September 2009.