Assistant professor of Family and Consumer Sciences works to improve the lives of people in Tennessee and around the world through community nutrition
Where are you from, and how did your career lead you to UTIA?
I grew up in a small town in Northwestern North Carolina. I received a bachelor’s degree in foods and nutrition from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and then moved to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, to complete an approved dietetic internship, which is a requirement to become a Registered Dietitian, through East Carolina University. After becoming a Registered Dietitian, I went to graduate school at the University of Georgia (UGA) where I studied nutrition and gerontology and worked as the Northeast Georgia Area Agency on Aging Wellness Coordinator. I fell in love with community nutrition through these experiences at UGA.
After receiving a PhD from UGA, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the Medical University of South Carolina for two years. I was then fortunate to begin working at UTIA in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences where I can continue focusing my efforts on community nutrition to improve the lives of Tennesseans and people around the world!
What is your main outreach focus, and why it is important?
My main outreach focus is helping all community members have the knowledge, skills and opportunities to choose adequate amounts of the nutritious foods that support their health and wellbeing. Our eating patterns impact our risk for developing chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers. Healthful eating patterns have a positive impact on our physical and mental health. Yet, many people are not able to access enough nutritious foods to support their basic needs. Having the knowledge, skills, as well as the opportunities, to choose enough nutritious foods is incredibly important for everyone!
Why did you choose to study foods and nutrition?
I studied nursing during my first year of college and thought my nutrition course was fascinating. I wanted to learn as much as I could about how our eating patterns affect our health, and how I could help people have eating patterns that best support their health and wellbeing.
What is the most fulfilling aspect of the work you do?
Making decisions about what to eat and what to drink is something that many people do multiple times a day. Many people also make these decisions for children and other people they provide care for as well. Through our work in Extension, we provide research-based information to help people make informed choices about what to feed themselves and their families. We work with communities to help make nutritious foods more accessible and affordable. It’s rewarding to work as part of an organization that improves the lives of people.
Can you describe your time participating in the Farmer-to-Farmer program through the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture? What did you enjoy most about your experience?
I was fortunate to volunteer with the Farmer-to-Farmer program in 2022 and 2023. During these volunteer assignments, I collaborated with colleagues at universities and schools in Cambodia, discussing nutrition education and strategies to incorporate hands-on nutrition education activities into Cambodian University’s Extension outreach efforts and as part of school curricula in Cambodian schools.
Volunteering with Farmer-to-Farmer was such a rewarding and fulfilling experience, and it’s tough to choose one aspect of the experience. I think what I enjoyed most was the opportunity to develop relationships with colleagues in Cambodia. Through these relationships I’ve learned so much working with these colleagues and continue to collaborate with them to strengthen our Extension programs in Tennessee and Cambodia.
What has been your proudest moment while working at UTIA?
I had the opportunity to work with a fantastic team of Extension professionals at the county, regional, and state level as part of a CDC-funded High Obesity Project grant, which aimed to improve access to nutritious foods and safe opportunities for physical activity in Hardeman County. Through this project, we worked with local residents, local leaders, and community partners to understand local needs and identify opportunities for interventions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our team worked with community partners to address rising rates of food insecurity among residents in Hardeman County. Our team worked with a network of community partners to plan and implement food distributions as part of the USDA-funded Farmers-to-Families program. We hosted nineteen food distributions, providing over 28,000 food boxes and 680,000 pounds of food to Hardeman County residents. Volunteers donated over 3,100 hours to address this critical need in their community.
It was amazing to be a small part of a team who was passionate about helping others and collaborated together to identify solutions to challenges in their community. As a result of this work, Extension professionals, community partners, and volunteers formed a local coalition and are still collaborating on projects to fight hunger and improve nutrition security in Hardeman County. I’m fortunate to work and learn from so many amazing people through this project!
What is one of your favorite experiences you have had in the UTIA Department of Family and Consumer Sciences?
One of my favorite experiences was teaching nutrition education at an art school in Cambodia as a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in 2022 and 2023. We discussed the Cambodian food pyramid while incorporating art into nutrition education. Pre-school and elementary-aged students learned about nutritious foods while trying fruits and vegetables and exploring their creativity making art from nutritious foods. I learned so much from the amazing students, faculty, teachers, and administrators at Cambodian schools and universities. I’m very grateful for these opportunities.
What is a project that you recently worked on that you are excited about?
I was on the planning committee for Tennessee’s third Food Waste Prevention Week, an event that is hosted annually by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. This year, Tennessee Food Waste Prevention Week was April 1-7, 2024 and included a statewide food drive. I’ve been fortunate to serve on this committee and coordinate the statewide food drive for the past three years. Through our network of fifty Extension offices, we collected over 9,287 pounds (about half the weight of a school bus) of food donations and $1,270 dollars were donated to local food pantries, which provided about 8,798 meals to Tennesseans, to help improve nutrition security among Tennesseans in 2024.
What do you like to do outside of work and/or what is a fun fact about yourself that your colleagues and students wouldn’t know?
I love hiking and being outdoors!
Something that colleagues and students might not know about it me is that I also enjoy making food art. It’s a fun way to introduce new food and make meals fun for my kids. I share food art and other food activities on social media and have connected with people around the world these social media accounts!
