Summer at STRIDE: Student Research Profiles
Summer 2014
Instead of vacationing this summer, several STRIDE students spent their time doing research. Read about the highlights below.
Michaela Clauss, fourth year nutrition major
What she did: I researched the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement — which aims to create sustainable, research-based menus for school lunchrooms — and created a protocol document. I presented my findings to the SNAP-ED Team; Arlene Grant-Holcomb, a faculty member from the Food Science & Nutrition Department; and the graduate student working on this project. They will evaluate and implement the Smarter Lunchrooms techniques.
The best part: My favorite thing was having the opportunity to continue working and learning about the various ways to influence healthy behaviors and combat childhood obesity. This project opened my eyes to the various ways marketing, appeal and placement contribute to food selection choices and how we can influence students to make healthy choices simply by rearranging the lunchroom.
The future: I am keeping all of my career options open at this point, but I am on track for the dietetic internship. Ideally, I would like to teach nutrition education with an emphasis on whole foods and culinary arts skills. I want to show people the joys, benefits and ease of eating for health.
Jessie Bierlich, first year nutrition graduate student
What she did: I worked on my thesis, “Pink and Dude Chefs: a nutrition education and culinary skills program for middle school students.” This program aims to decrease the risks of childhood obesity and related chronic diseases by teaching youth about nutrients, healthy food choices, and culinary skills. We are setting up two cohorts in California and working in collaboration with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where they will also implement two cohorts of the program. This project is ongoing, and I am excited to be in a partnership with Nashville and see what we find.
I am also working on a project with Kelly Main, a professor in the City & Regional Planning department. Over the summer we researched the development and implementation of health elements within general plans of California cities. We have been interviewing city planners throughout the state and have evaluated whether these planned health elements are being adopted and implemented within the community and the factors that contributed to their efficacy or ineffectiveness.
The best part: There was dried pineapple and mango in the conference room. Just kidding — I loved working on various projects with some great people and professors.
The future: I hope to work in public health and/or teach at either a middle school or college level.
Trevor Curry, second year kinesiology graduate student
What he did: I explored how new technology affects fitness levels and what implications it brings to maintaining health. I collaborated with Aydin Nazmi and a polymer research and development company to create a research protocol for testing how wearing a novel exercise training suit affects fitness. I am looking forward to the results of this project and STRIDE’s involvement in this process.
The best part: I liked collaborating and developing projects with the entire STRIDE staff over the summer. I enjoyed how we all brought unique skill sets and ideas of how to improve the health of our community.
The future: I plan to work in the health promotion field or in education.
Leland Bailey, fifth year statistics major
What he did: I served as data analyst for several ongoing projects, such as the Hunger-Free Communities nutrition epidemiology study, the preschool BMI study, and the FLASH data study. I looked for trends in each data set and ran appropriate analysis tests to determine any significant correlations between health variables and socio-economic status and income variables. The data came mostly from families around San Luis Obispo County and Cal Poly students. I then created analysis reports to answer relevant research questions and met with faculty advisors to discuss findings and further analysis.
The best part: Working at STRIDE allowed me to pair my statistical and analytic knowledge with the fields of nutrition and health science. These fields are new to me, and it served as a fantastic opportunity to expand my academic and professional horizons. I also cannot say enough good things about the dozens of students and the faculty advisors I worked with. Their hard work and cooperation is much appreciated.
The future: My plan is to continue expanding my baseball analytic knowledge, gain some experience in the field, and pair my eternal love for sports and baseball with my growing appreciation for numbers. If that doesn’t pan out, I guess I’ll just become a rock star.