Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting year, January - December 2023, our recruitment efforts focused on identifying undergraduate students with majors in the area of agriculture at both University of Florida (UF) and Florida Agricultural Mechanical University (FAMU). In February of 2023, we provided an informational session to all interested students and provided announcements about our program to advisors in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UF and our Co-PI at FAMU distributed these announcements. During Spring/Summer months, we restructured the course to accommodate the evaluations from the students who took the class in Fall 2022. We identified experts in that particular field and potential field trips for our students. We identified labs and other activities to help immerse students within the subject matter to enhance their comprehension and potential ability to apply the information through assignments. We recruited individuals from the field - 2 industry partners to participate in our course-end panel and will continue the conversation about working together on internship initiatives to provide further opportunities for students who partake in this program. In Fall 2023, we implemented this slightly revised course and were able to recruit 14 undergraduates from Sophomore - Senior years in five different majors across the agricultural field (nutritional sciences, food science, food resource economics, biology, and dietetics through UF). Our focus of this course was more on comprehension, thus the assignments were to assess critical thinking and ability to apply knowledge as opposed to assessing knowledge gained through standardized exams. We attempted to communicate with administrators at FAMU our intention for a joint course, however, these discussions remain on-going to ensure credits and such align with FAMU and provides a benefit to the students. The PI established a project in this course that would demonstrate a different method of research and used for more service learning and it will be developed into a virtual exchange experience with Universidad de Cuenca in Quito, Ecuador. Through this program, we have been able to successfully recruit 10 students from the course to conduct research in the collaborators respective labs. Dependent on the research focus, students are working independently or assisting graduate students with their research. From last year, students who worked in a research area, one student obtained a undergraduate research scholarship, another student was a co-author of a journal article in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, one undergraduate presented her honors thesis to an extension conference and another undergraduate student pursued research in Sri Lanka. Students who are currently conducting research are performing a sensory evaluation with shrimp, writing technical reports, and establishing a food security instrument for those with chronic diseases. Changes/Problems:Of the above information that was presented the changes to the class included a service-learning project that allows students to identify barriers and potential solutions to a food establishment. One problem is that many students elect to complete research during the semester, but they are not able to complete 240 hours in that semester, so continue with research over the following semester. However, due to classes and other commitments, they do not participate in as much research as they need. On-going discussions about how to alleviate this problem are continuing. An additional problem is the on-going inability to have students from FAMU participate in this program. It is unknown the bottleneck, so a visit to the campus with administrators may need to occur. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We were able to recruit 10 of the 14 students enrolled in the course to participate in research activities in collaborators' labs. Through this research opportunity, we have been working with the students to enhance their technical and personal skills in the lab by allowing them to participate in mixed methodology study, analysis techniques, writing technical reports and developing their own independent project. From the students who took part in research from year 1, one student achieved an undergraduate research scholarship, one undergraduate student was a co-author of a manuscript that was published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, one undergraduate student completed a research study in Sri Lanka, and one student presented her honors thesis at an extension conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have communicated information to collaborators and administrators informally. Once data has been compiled from research and course activities, we will be presenting this information more formally to administrators and through conferences/publications in Spring 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This Fall, we had attempted to implement a virtual exchange due to the challenges with students completing a study abroad. However, due to medical issues with the individual abroad, we could not implement this aspect within our course. Therefore, we are seeking to do this next Fall 2024. We are encouraging students to take part in research abroad opportunities with the team, however, it is challenging with the course load of students, thus finding alternative methods to incorporate an abroad opportunity are being sought. In this second year, we were unable to recruit students from FAMU to participate in this program. Therefore, communicating with administrators to assure students are able to take the course and participate in research at specific times of the year is on-going.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For the second year, we were able to recruit 14 students from five different majors. The students have identified as females (n=14) and racial/ethnicities as asian (n=3), hispanic (n=3), and white (n=8). During our Fall class, we had a guest speaker who spoke about considering the gender component in the food systems. Subsequently students submitted an assignment focused on ideas for equalizing gender roles in the food systems. Furthermore, students submitted an assignment focused on educating community members about a food system topic that considered the community members' cultural, educational, gender, and other backgrounds that impact one's ability to enhance their knowledge and ability to incorporate the information. Finally, students created a pre/post graphical depiction of what food systems meant to them. They provided context to what changed/did not change from the beginning of the semester to the end about food systems. The group project that students worked on throughout the semester was a food environmental scan that was focused on at least 2 food establishments of their choice. For example, coffee shops or delis. From last year, students who worked in a research area, one student obtained a undergraduate research scholarship, another student was a co-author of a journal article in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, one undergraduate presented her honors thesis to an extension conference and another undergraduate student pursued research in Sri Lanka. Students who are currently conducting research are performing a sensory evaluation with shrimp, writing technical reports, and establishing a food security instrument for those with chronic diseases.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Andrade JM, Andrade JE, Farzad R, Nelson C, Mateescu R, Betiku O. Students' Visualizations of the Food Systems. 2023. NACTA annual conference. Las Cruces, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Schneider S, Andrade JM. Phosphorus Knowledge and Dietary Practices of US Adults Undergoing Dialysis. 2023. Spring Clinical Meetings for the National Kidney Foundation, Long Beach, CA.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Acevedo S, Milton M, Andrade JM. Exploring spice consumption in adults: A qualitative study. 2023. Nutrition Research.
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Progress 01/01/22 to 12/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting year, January - December 2022, our recruitment efforts focused on identifying undergraduate students with majors in the area of agriculture at both University of Florida (UF) and Florida Agricultural Mechanical University (FAMU). In February of 2022, we provided an informational session to all interested students and provided announcements about our program to advisors in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UF and our Co-PI at FAMU distributed these announcements. Additionally, advisors presented this program at a agricultural freshmen orientation in July 2022. During Spring/Summer months, we worked on developing a course that focused on discussion-based with topics surrounding the food systems. We identified experts in that particular field and potential field trips for our students. We identified labs and other activities to help immerse students within the subject matter to enhance their comprehension and potential ability to apply the information through assignments. We recruited individuals from the field - 2 industry partners to participate in our course-end panel and will continue the conversation about working together on internship initatives to provide further opportunities for students who partake in this program. In Fall 2022, we implemented this course and were able to recruit 17 undergraduates from Freshmen - Senior years in six different majors across the agricultural field (nutritional sciences, food science, food resource economics, biomedical engineering, plant sciences, and agricultural communication and education through UF). Our focus of this course was more on comprehension, thus the assignments were to assess critical thinking and ability to apply knowledge as opposed to assessing knowledge gained through standardized exams. We attempted to communicate with administrators at FAMU our intention for a joint course, however, these discussions remain on-going to ensure credits and such align with FAMU and provides a benefit to the students. The PI and Co-PI were able to revise a study aboard and worked with collaborators at the Universidad de San Francisco to establish this program for Spring 2023. We are actively recruiting undergraduate students through our course to enhance the continuation of discussion towards the food systems. The team has been meeting on a quarterly basis to identify methods to structure our service learning. We will be revising our course slightly to accomodate this service learning through a project the students will immerse themselves in the Fall course and carry forward in the Spring. The PI has been communicating with representations from Gainesville civic center to encorporate an on-going project that our students can assist. Through this program, we have been able to successfully recruit 13 students from the course to conduct research in the collaborators respective labs. Dependent on the research focus, students are working independently or assisting graduate students with their research. One student will be submitting a manuscript based on a study she conducted over the summer with the PI near the end of December 2022. We have been providing conference opportunities with our students with the intention we are able to have 1-2 attend a local conference in Spring 2023. Furthermore, they will be submitting abstracts to the Undergraduate Research Symposium at UF which takes place in April 2023. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We were able to recruit 13 of the 17 students enrolled in the course to participate in research activities in collaborators' labs. Through this research opportunity, we have been working with the students to enhance their technical and personal skills in the lab by allowing them to participate in clinical trials, development of food products, analysis techniques, and developing their own independent project. We will continue to work on offering mentoring and diversity training for the faculty involved in mentoring students in their labs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have communicated information to collaborators and administrators informally. In our December Global Food Systems Institute meeting, the PI will provide a summary of our activities to our members. Once data has been compiled from research and course activities, we will be presenting this information more formally to administrators and through conferences/publications in Spring 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The team has recognized the challenges with students completing research activities within a short time-frame, therefore, to enhance the research component we have extended timelines for accomplishment of these tasks to ensure students have the opportunity to write manuscripts (if applicable) and submit abstracts for local professional conferences. Small modifications will be made in the course to allow building of a service learning component to encourage students outside of the class to pursue service learning component. Finally, we were unable to recruit students from FAMU to participate in this program. Therefore, communicating with administrators to assure students are able to take the course and participate in research at specific times of the year is on-going. Furthermore, we will begin monthly trainings for faculty who mentor students on research.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For this first year, we were able to recruit 17 students from six different majors. The students have identified as males (n=5) and females (n=12) and racial/ethnicities as asian (n=2), black (n=1), hispanic (n=5), and white (n=9). During our Fall class, we had a guest speaker who spoke about considering the gender component in the food systems. Subsequently students submitted an assignment focused on ideas for equalizing gender roles in the food systems. Furthermore, students submitted an assignment focused on educating community members about a food system topic that considered the community members' cultural, educational, gender, and other backgrounds that impact one's ability to enhance their knowledge and ability to incorporate the information. Finally, students created a pre/post graphical depiction of what food systems meant to them. They provided context to what changed/did not change from the beginning of the semester to the end about food systems. Through an end of the semester course evaluation, students (n=16) indicated that they enhanced their knowledge towards the food systems in various topics and that they would take a course similar to this in the future.
Publications
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