Undergraduate Students
Nia Lessard | CHANAS Research Assistant
|
Hometown: Hudson, NH
Major: Dietetics What made you choose your major? When I came to UNH, I originally was interested in exercise science. After meeting with Dr. Morrell, I was certain that the Nutrition major would fulfill all of the prerequisites needed for physical therapy school. Second semester of freshman year, I took NUTR400, Nutrition in Health and Wellbeing, which is the required course for nutrition majors. That class is where I found myself questioning my career path. I was also introduced to the different options in the Nutrition Program we have here at UNH, and I chose the dietetics pathway ultimately from my passion of overall wellness, healthcare, and anatomy and physiology. I have always had an interest in science and I knew I belonged in the healthcare field. I knew the dietetics major was right for me when I started discovering how our body uses the nutrients from the food that we consume and how our lifestyle choices can impact our risk for developing chronic diseases. Why did you want to get involved with research? Around the age of 12, I was diagnosed as a prediabetic. My doctor explained that through lifestyle changes, this diagnosis can be irreversible. I realized that if I changed my diet and through physical activity I can make a change for the sake of my health. I made the necessary lifestyle changes and a year later, I was no longer prediabetic. This diagnosis introduced me to the power of nutrition’s role in developing chronic diseases. Ever since then, I’ve been infatuated with how we can change our risk by altering our lifestyles choices. |
Anthony Dempsey | CHANAS Research Assistant
Hometown: Framingham, MA
Major: Dietetics What made you choose your major? During the COVID-19 pandemic, my focuses switched from sports to my own personal health. This is when I started getting more familiar with exercise and nutrition, and the science behind it. I started learning from podcasts, lectures, and whatever else I could credibly find. This helped me change my body through exercise and nutrition, and for the first time I was proud of my body. I fell in love with nutrition, so this helped me to easily pick dietetics as my major when coming to UNH. Why did you want to get involved with research? When I started to realize the importance of nutrition in the body, I began becoming interested into the science behind it. The data behind research started to help me understand the human body and how it works. Research has helped me implement ideas in my own training and nutrition. This aimed my interests towards sports nutrition, and how athletes can optimize their sports performance. I have always loved and played sports growing up, so the research has helped me view sports from a different point of view. |
Margo Kamis | CHANAS Research Assistant
Hometown: Glastonbury, CT
Major: Dietetics & EcoGastronomy What made you choose your major? All throughout my life, I have been surrounded by the influence of food in the physical and mental wellbeing on a person. Growing up on a farm and seeing the food system firsthand, it fueled my passion for wanting to help people prioritize their health through what they eat, therefore transcending to my desire to help people on a client-to-client basis. Nutrition education and counseling is one of the biggest factors regarding the wellbeing of the general population, and I want to help those that may struggle in this regard. Furthermore, coming to the University of New Hampshire, I found myself fascinated with the parameters of food insecurity and its impact on low-income families and their health, therefore fueling a passion to help those struggling with this. With the combination of Dietetics and EcoGatronomy, my majors allow me to combine my passions, launching me into helping change the trajectory of how people view the importance of eating properly and advocate for access to nutrient-dense options for all. Why did you want to get involved with research? Research has always been something that has interested me, as it fuels the ability to discover more about the world that we as humans may not fully understand. Particularly with those 18-25, the information on health status and the influence of nutrition’s impact on the wellbeing of others is an ever-growing discipline that has so much that has yet to be understood. When I took NUTR 400 my first semester freshman year and participated in the research, I was drawn to wanting to learn more about the process of conducting the screening and what the data can help conclude. This then lead me to my path of taking Intro to Research in Nutrition, and I fell in love with the process and the data that can be discovered to help guide people into the direction of making healthy lifestyle changes. |
Graduate Students
Grace Tomann | CHANAS Research Assistant
Hometown: Cold Spring, NY
Major: Nutrition What made you choose Your major? I chose to get my master's in nutrition because I've always had a passion for human health and food science/cooking. Doing my undergraduate degree in biology allowed me to explore so many different areas of science and research, and nutrition provided an avenue for me to combine my excitement of these areas together to better understand health. I hope that I will be able to use my background in nutrition while working in the healthcare field as a physician one day. Why did you want to get involved with research? Research is an integral part of science and furthering our knowledge about human health. I've had immensely valuable research experience in the past at UNH under Dr. Elsawa, yet this was an entirely different field, so I wanted to explore a different side of research through nutrition. Looking into the connection between nutrition and the overall health and well-being of college students is not only exciting and relatable but extremely tangible when thinking about the immediate implications of our research. |
Sarah Murphy | CHANAS Research Assistant
Hometown: Barrington, New Hampshire
Major: Occupational Therapy What made you choose Your major? Occupational therapy is exciting to me because it uses research-based frameworks to implement creative, occupation-focused, client-centered care. I appreciate that occupational therapy encourages patients to participate in daily activities and routines that are most meaningful to them as individuals. This course of study has allowed me to recognize the association between physical health and emotional well being, and how environment influences ability. Why did you want to get involved with research? There is great value in interdisciplinary health care, including research efforts. Participating and communicating with others in CHANAS projects is great interdisciplinary practice. In addition, it has been very enlightening to observe research methods that contribute to the development of evidence-based interventions and evaluations I will use as a future practitioner. |
Faculty
Jesse Stabile Morrell, PhD Jesse Stabile Morrell, PhD, is a Principal Lecturer for the Nutrition Program at the University of New Hampshire. She leads the College Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey and directs the UNH in Italy study abroad program in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. She teaches courses in nutrition, wellness, and research methods. She is passionate about fostering undergraduate research and inquiry. Her research activities focus on improving health and reducing chronic disease risk among adolescents and young adults. |