Developing Effective Physical Activity Programs

Lynda B. Ransdell, PhD, is a professor in the department of kinesiology at Boise State University.

Ransdell has dedicated her career and research to helping sedentary people increase their levels of physical activity. Ransdell has designed, implemented, and evaluated numerous physical activity interventions and has worked as a consultant to help others develop interventions in community settings.

Known for her research of physical activity patterns of women, Ransdell has conducted two well-respected studies, Daughters and Mothers Exercising Together (DAMET) and Generations Exercising Together to Improve Fitness (GET FIT), which detail some of the only family-based interventions known to be successful in increasing physical activity in typically inactive women.

Ransdell has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and 14 book chapters, mostly related to increasing physical activity in sedentary individuals. She is also the author of Ensuring the Health of Active and Athletic Girls and Women, a popular text for courses examining the physiological and psychological implications of sport and physical activity participation for girls and women.

She is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Ransdell has also served as president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, editor of the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, and coeditor of Physical Activity Today. She is the recipient of the ACSM Visiting Scholar award from University of South Carolina (1998) and Outstanding Alumni awards from Arizona State University and Eastern Kentucky University.

Ransdell resides in Boise, Idaho, where she enjoys participating in ice hockey, cross-country skiing, running, and mountain biking.

Mary K. Dinger, PhD, is a professor in the department of health and exercise science at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, where her teaching and research focus on promoting physical activity.

Working in a research, consulting, or community service capacity, Dinger has designed, implemented, and evaluated several physical activity interventions. She has published her research in more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dinger is a fellow of both the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). She currently serves as epidemiology section editor for Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and on the editorial board of the American Journal of Health Behavior. She was previously an editorial board member of the American Journal of Health Education and an executive board member of the American Academy of Health Behavior and the Research Consortium of AAHPERD.

Dinger resides in Norman, Oklahoma. She enjoys staying physically active by playing with her daughter, biking, and hiking.

Jennifer Huberty, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of health, physical education, and recreation at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she manages the graduate curriculum for physical activity in health promotion.

Huberty has designed, implemented, and evaluated numerous research- and community-based physical activity interventions. She is the creator of Women Bound to Be Active, a physical activity book club aimed at increasing the number of women who maintain healthy physical activity behaviors. This nine-month intervention provides women with the skills and tools for initiating and maintaining a physically active lifestyle. The rationale for this program and details on its feasibility have been published in Research Quarterly and Women and Health.

Based on research gathered in Women Bound to Be Active, Huberty also created a locally implemented weight management program, Fit for Life, which provides a no-cost opportunity for underserved people to learn healthy behaviors and be active within their communities. Huberty directs the physical activity component for Club Possible, a physical activity and nutrition education afterschool program focusing on prevention of childhood obesity. The program has been implemented in 18 afterschool agencies, including CampFire USA, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and Girl Scouts.

Huberty is a member of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. For outstanding research and community service, Huberty was awarded the Varner Professorship for 2007. In 1999, she received a graduate student research award from the Southern Academy for Women in Physical Activity, Sport, and Health.

Huberty resides in LaVista, Nebraska, with her husband, Rodger. She enjoys Spinning, running, weight training, and scrapbooking in her free time.

Kim H. Miller, PhD, is an associate professor of health promotion in the department of kinesiology and health promotion at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, where she works with undergraduate and graduate students to design and implement health promotion interventions.

Miller received her doctorate in health education from Southern Illinois University in 2000. For over eight years, she has conducted research in the area of health and physical activity, publishing numerous research papers and presenting her findings at international conferences. Miller has also served as a consultant in designing physical activity and health promotion interventions for employee wellness programs in a variety of settings. She is a member of the American Academy of Health Behavior and the American Association for Health Education.

In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, reading, and cooking. Miller resides in Lexington, Kentucky.