Human nutrition students, both on the undergraduate and graduate levels, took home an array of awards during the past year for their research and other achievements.
Sanchez receives top student research award from sensory professionals
Karolina Sanchez, a master’s student in the sensory and consumer behavior program in the human nutrition department, received the Elaine Skinner award at the recent Society of Sensory Professional meeting for best student presentation on applied sensory research.
Her paper was “How does Product Preparation Affect Sensory Properties? An example with Coffee.” She worked with Edgar Chambers, university distinguished professor in the College of Human Ecology.
This is one of only three student awards given every other year by the major international professional society in sensory analysis.
Sanchez had an internship at Anheuser Busch in St. Louis, Missouri.
Fees awarded $1,000 for research
Alex Fees, junior in nutritional sciences, has been awarded a $1,000 research award from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry. He is expected to work for more than 100 hours on a project this spring with faculty oversight.
His work is associated with an undergraduate research project that will determine the effects of sodium nitrate supplementation on the delivery/utilization of oxygen during exercise in rats with chronic heart failure (CHF) induced by a surgical myocardial infarction (MI).
The Clarenburg Cardiopulmonary Research Laboratory recently has produced significant experimental evidence demonstrating that sodium nitrate supplementation may be an effective therapy in the treatment of patients/animals with CHF with profound skeletal muscle performance deficits. Fees’ project will continue in a line of investigations that will help determine the potential mechanisms in which sodium nitrate supplementation may increase nitric oxide bioavailability in the working (contracting) muscle and thereby enhance skeletal muscle exercise performance, according to Tim Musch, who directs the lab with David Poole. Both are professors in kinesiology.
This summer Fees was one of four students who participated in the 2014 Leadership Honor Bootcamp in Washington, D.C. The intensive five-day programs strive to give university students the skills necessary to effectively lead others. They study leadership theories and group behavior, and receive one-one-one coaching.
Five named outstanding graduating seniors in May
Every semester the College of Human Ecology honors outstanding graduating seniors selected by their professors for their academic achievement, professional potential, leadership, participation and service.
Honorees graduating in May were:
Breanna Hamilton, athletic training. Hamilton served as president of the student athletic training association which recognized her as an upcoming student leader. She was a resident assistant on campus and completed athletic training experiences with K-State football, cheerleading and track and field as well as the 4th Brigade and Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley.
Shanna Stewart, nutrition and health. Stewart will graduate with a dual major in nutrition and health and dietetics with a minor in kinesiology. She has been a K-State sports nutrition intern and a Human Ecology ambassador. She was a Wildcat Wellness Coach, a member of the cadaver dissection team and volunteer with programs such as Flint Hills Breadbasket and Champions Are Readers.
Taylor Johnston, nutrition and kinesiology. She also graduates with a dietetics major and a gerontology secondary major. She was a K-State cheerleader and is a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine. Johnston has received numerous scholarships. She will do her dietetic internship after graduation at The Ohio State University in Columbus where she hopes to complete a master’s degree.
Samantha Kellerman, nutritional sciences. Kellerman is president of the Student Alumni Board and a Putnam scholar. She was part of a medical mission trip to Peru in 2012 and worked with at-risk youth during an alternative spring break trip to Oklahoma. After graduation, she will attend an accelerated nursing program at Research College of Nursing in partnership with Rockhurst University in Kansas City.
Ben Harstine, public health nutrition. Harstine, recipient of the prestigious Presidential Scholarship, spent seven weeks in an immersive Chinese language and culture studies in China in 2011. He has been an orientation leader and a new student services volunteer at K-State as well as a training intern with Target Training Services in Oman. Harstine has also been involved in community projects.