Degrees & Programs Kinesiology

The fight against malaria is no easy task, but Melody (Miles) Daly ‘09 brings extensive field experience to the battle in her current role as a public health expert and Program Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After graduating from Westmont College with her Bachelors in Science, Melody continued to add to her arsenal of knowledge by earning her M.P.H. in Global Health from Emory University and a certificate in theology and work at Fuller Theological Seminary. Not about to slow down, Melody went on to work for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In the five plus years she worked for those two organizations, Melody served as a Public Health Advisor for the CDC President’s Malaria Initiative, provided technical assistance to government malaria programs in East Africa as a Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow, and reviewed all non-pharmaceutical response measures implemented during the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Emily (McCardle) Ecklund '13, who graduated from Loma Linda University with a master's in occupational therapy, was accepted to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Emerging Leaders Development Program, which recognizes and invests in 15 students and new practitioners from across the country who demonstrate dedication and commitment to professional service at the start of their career. Emily is the first Loma Linda University alumna accepted into this program. She will work with a mentor to publish research related to the role of occupational therapy in women transitioning out of the sex industry and to an occupational therapy program developed for minor girls who are survivors of sex trafficking in the U.S.

After graduating from Westmont in 2002, Allison (Knode) Sandquist spent a year working and enjoying Santa Barbara before she started the physical therapy program at Chapman University. She graduated from Chapman with her doctorate degree in physical therapy in 2006 and worked for Hayashida and Associates in Santa Barbara as a physical therapist for six years. During that time she became certified as an orthopedic specialist (OSC), competitively raced outrigger canoes for the Santa Barbara Outrigger Canoe Club, and coached pole-vault at Westmont. In 2012, Allison and her husband moved to New Zealand where she works on and off as a physiotherapist.

“I feel so blessed to have been a part of Westmont and its incredible community. Not only did it provide me with a foundation of knowledge and tools that allow me to be successful, but it also helped me develop a deep, holistic perception on life,” says graduate Ben Johnson ’10. Ben certainly got the most he could have from Westmont College when he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and cum laude honors to top it off.

Kelsey Kasten '12 has passed the last of six exams to become a certified prosthetist orthotist, or CPO,  qualified to evaluate, fabricate and fit patients with prosthetic and orthotic devices. She says, "Prosthetics refer to artificial limbs, and orthotics to any type of bracing. We fabricate prostheses for people who have lost limbs due to trauma or disease, and orthoses to help people with diseases such a cerebral palsy, post CVA, spinal cord injury, and many others improve their ability to walk and achieve their other functional goals. I became interested in this field sometime during my senior year at Westmont, when I realized I wanted to do something with my career that allowed me to help people walk every single day. I went to the University of Washington where I earned my master's in prosthetics and orthotics. After grad school, you must complete a yearlong residency in each discipline. I completed my orthotics residency at the University of Iowa Hospital and my prosthetics residency at a private clinic in Maryland. I continue to work at this private practice, where I enjoy working with patients as they learn to walk again, and achieve their goals!

Chris Ecklund '96 has appreciated the foundation that the Kinesiology Department provided in launching his career.  Initially, he worked as a personal trainer and in a management role in a health club and progressed into a high school teaching position and department chair, adjunct faculty and strength coach at a community college, performance coach in the private sector, part-time instructor at the University of California Santa Barbara, full circle back to Westmont as adjunct faculty, manual therapist and master trainer/instructor and special advisor to the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  Through the Lord’s leading in 2009, he opened the Prevail Conditioning Performance Center in Santa Barbara, CA.  Prevail focuses on integrated wellness and performance through training, manual therapy and nutrition.  Little did he know that his time at Westmont would equip him with the practical and transferable skills to run a business.  His time at Westmont since graduation also allowed him the opportunity to meet his life partner and wife, Emily (McCardle ’13).  Together they celebrate their newborn baby boy Jameson Ecklund, born September 5, 2019.