Whitney Ogle
Associate Professor
My personal mission is to make the science of human movement meaningful, understandable, and applicable to daily life. I am guided by my values in finding connections among concepts from diverse sources, striking a balance between cultivating new ideas and improving on current designs, and continual growth by learning with and from others.
Originally from Chicagoland, I have moved all over the United States for school and work. I earned my Bachelors degree in Exercise Science from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. While in my Doctorate in Physical Therapy program at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, I had the opportunity to do clinical rotations in Utah, Arizona, Washington, Western Colorado, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After I completed my DPT degree, I worked as an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist near Seattle and helped with functional capacity evaluations of injured workers north of Seattle.
I decided to go back to school to get more involved in research at Indiana University where I earned a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology and a PhD in Human Performance with a focus on Motor Control and Motor Learning with a minor in Psychological Brain Sciences. While I was working towards these degrees, I worked as a home health physical therapist for babies 6 months to 3 years old in rural Southern Indiana and occasionally in skilled nursing facilities for older adults who were medically stable enough to be out of the hospital but not safe enough to be at home.
I was drawn to Cal Poly Humboldt because of its strong focus in social justice, giving students hands on experience with research, and because it is physically beautiful! I enjoy rock climbing, slacklining, swimming, hiking, and going on walks with my cats.
Instragram: @dr.ogle
Twitter: @drwhitneyogle
- Effects of chronic pain/re-injury on motor control
- Interaction between physical therapy and medical marijuana
- How people use cannabis in and around exercise
- Balance in aging swimmers
Consulting:
Ambassador for the region for PT Day of Service – a day in October where physical therapists all over the world serve their local community. 2017 was our first year in Arcata, where pre-PT students came together to clean up trash along the Humboldt Bay Trail.
Member of the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (HIIMR)
Advisor for the Cal Poly Humboldt Rock Climbing Club
Adivsor for the Humboldt LumbarJacks Club
Provides educational programming on campus about workplace ergonomics with Paul Vrabel http://risksafety.humboldt.edu/ergonomics
Teaching Statement
My personal mission as a teacher is to create an environment and assignments that spark curiosity and facilitate problem solving in ways that are authentic and relatable to everyday life. I enjoy and value integrating content related to human movement into my own life, so I am passionate in teaching these same concepts to inspire students to do the same. I have found that teaching and learning course material is similar to teaching and learning motor skills in many ways. As a physical therapist, I work on improving my patients’ balance by creating opportunities for them to test and understand the bounds of their stability. Particularly in my experience working with infants and toddlers, I encourage active problem solving and learning through trial and error. As a teacher, I facilitate learning through activities that encourage problem solving, mentally and physically engaging with the content, and reflection.
Because of my background in physical therapy, I am aware of the unique challenges that students face in preparing for applying to Doctorate in Physical Therapy programs. My biggest piece of advice for students who are interested in pursuing physical therapy is to observe as many different physical therapists as possible to make sure this is really what you want to do. I am particularly passionate about improving diversity within the PT profession and addressing the current inequities in PT school admissions.
