Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Department of Nutrition

Maldonado receives Vice Chancellor Award in Excellence

Vice Chancellor’s Awards recognize Texas A&M AgriLife personnel

Recipients honored for outstanding excellence

Texas A&M AgriLife faculty and staff were honored Jan. 14 during the Vice Chancellor’s Awards in Excellence ceremony, which followed the annual State of AgriLife Address, both held virtually this year.

The awards, established in 1980, recognize the commitment and outstanding contributions displayed across Texas A&M AgriLife and celebrate the contributions and achievements of faculty, students and staff members.

Recipients represent personnel in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, TVMDL.

Congratulations to Paula Maldonado who received a Vice Chancellor’s Awards in Excellence this year. 

Staff Award

The AgriLife Services Staff Award was presented to Paula Maldonado, senior business administrator, Unit Business Services, was recognized for her contributions to the Department of Food Science and Technology and the Department of Nutrition. She provides exceptional service to faculty members, helping oversee their lab budgets and assists in staff recruitment and hosting visiting scientists. In her nomination, the heads of both departments said, “The split of the former Department of Nutrition and Food Science and successful start of the new departments would not have been feasible without Ms. Maldonado. Her exceptional support, dedicated problem-solving and diligent service have made our departments run smoothly.”

A full list of award winners was announced on AgriLife Today.

Read more.

Dr. Natividad Robert Fuentes

Dr. Natividad Robert Fuentes Awarded Second Place Distinguished Postdoctoral Poster Presentation

Dr. Robert Fuentes with Vice President for Research, Dr. Mark A. Barteau

Dr. Natividad Robert Fuentes, a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Dr. Robert Chapkin, was awarded Second Place Distinguished Postdoctoral Poster Presentation at the Texas A&M 3rd Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium on September 19th, 2018.

Anna Salvador

Anna Salvador Receives Travel Award

Anna Salvador and her award

Anna Salvador, a rising third year nutrition PhD student in Dr. David Threadgill’s laboratory, received a travel award from the American Society for Nutrition at the Aegean Conference. The Aegean Conference is the first International Conference on Precision Nutrition and Metabolism in Public Health and Medicine. The conference was held in Crete, Greece on September 21-26, 2018. Anna presented a platform talk, ‘Implementing precision dietetics to predict metabolic health in a genetically heterogeneous mouse model’, where she described her work toward identifying a biomarker for metabolic sensitive to carbohydrate consumption.

Natasha Quailes

Natasha Quailes Awarded People's Choice Award for Best Poster

Natasha Quailes with her poster at the Research Symposium

Natasha Quailes is a Lecturer for Food Systems Industry Management. Ms. Quailes has been conducting research on xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin) and their effect on an inflammation pathway that leads to apoptosis, a part of a disease known as diabetic retinopathy. She submitted her preliminary findings to present at a research symposium for UTRGV’s School of Medicine event and was notified that her poster won an award for people’s choice. Out of the over 150 posters that were in the symposium her poster received the most votes from the community in attendance for best poster.

Zahra Mohammad

Zahra Mohammad Receives Awards and Presents Research

Zahra Mohammad with her award
Zahra Mohammad with her 2018 Student Travel Scholariship Award
Zahra Mohammad presenting her research
Zahra Mohammad presenting her research

Zahra Mohammad, a PhD student under Dr. Alejandro Castillo, received multiple awards and scholarships this year from three professional organizations. She received the 2018 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Travel Scholarship, which covered all travel expenses to the conference. Zahra was also awarded the 2018 ASM Research Capstone Fellowship and outstanding graduate and postdoctoral scholarship from American Society for Microbiology. In addition, she was awarded a Feeding Tomorrow Scholarship from the Institute for Food Technologists. These awards allowed her to present three researches at three professional organizations.

First Place at 2018 South Central Regional IFT College Bowl

Food Science & Technology students on the 2018 College Bowl team

Food Science & Technology students on the 2018 College Bowl team

Congratulations to the Food Science students on the College Bowl team on winning first place in the South Central Region competition on April 13, 2018. Their next competition will be competing next at Nationals Chicago!

Since 1985, the IFTSA College Bowl Competition has tested the knowledge of student teams from across the United States in the areas of food science and technology, history of foods and food processing, food law, and general IFT/food-related trivia.

The College Bowl is designed to facilitate interaction among students from different universities, stimulate the students’ desire to accumulate and retain knowledge, and provide a forum for students to engage in friendly competition. Teams for IFT Student Chapters in eight geographical areas of the Student Association compete in area competitions prior to the IFT Annual Meeting. The winning teams from the eight areas then compete in a final competition at the Annual Meeting.

Creasy Receives Marion Teaching Award at 2018 Ag Convocation

Dr. Chew & Dr. Creasy

Dr. Chew & Dr. Creasy

Dr. Rebecca Creasy, Lecturer in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, received the Gail W. and David P. Marion ’65 Teaching Award in Memory of Dr. Richard C. Potts ’45 at the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ 61st Annual Convocation on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

Mr. Marion & Dr. Creasy

Mr. Marion & Dr. Creasy  

Jesus Garcia, Dr. Creasy, Johnna Pieniazek, & Dr. Chew

Jesus Garcia, Dr. Creasy, Johnna Pieniazek, & Dr. Chew

The award is given to a professor who is an exceptional teacher and who has demonstrated outstanding mentorship to underclassmen in our college. It was established by the Marion family through the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University in memory of Dr. Potts to recognize a faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who teaches and mentors freshmen and sophomore students and is an effective communicator. Recipients of the award are selected by the members of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council.

Dr. Richard Potts ’45 was a respected administrator and faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who contributed to the success of Texas A&M University. He loved and respected his students like his own children, knowing that sometimes they just needed someone to talk to. Dr. Potts was a great mentor to David Marion, who benefited greatly from Dr. Potts mentorship during his time as a student at Texas A&M University, and the award was begun in 2012 by his family as a tribute to Dr. Potts.

Creasy’s experience in food science and nutrition spans from the food industry to higher education and community outreach.  Her instructional focus at Texas A&M has been on introductory nutrition courses, study abroad programs, and undergraduate food science courses. She enjoys mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students as a Leadership Coach with the Maroon & White Leadership Program, as well as an advisor for the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association, the Aggie Golden Arrows Women’s Leadership Organization, and the Omega Phi Alpha Service Sorority. She has also led Study Abroad Texas – Food Science and co-led the Mediterranean Nutrition and Food Processing Study Abroad, and recently coordinated the 2018 Texas FFA Food Science Career Development Event Clinic.

Creasy received a BSA in Food Science from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition, and minor in Agricultural Education and Communication, from the University of Florida.

Yagmur Yegin receives multiple accolades in 2017

Yagmur Yegin, a doctoral student at Texas A&M University was selected to receive the following awards in the year 2017.

2017 – ‘Susan M. Arseven ‘75 Make-A-Difference Memorial Award’ Recipient from Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)

This award seeks to encourage women students pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering fields.

 

 

2017 – Peanut Proud Scholarship Award – IAFP Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL, July 9-12, 2017

The scholarship is sponsored by Peanut Proud, Inc. to reward a selected U.S. graduate student who recognizes the importance of food safety and desires to help build the confidence of consumers by insuring the best quality food. Ms. Yegin was invited to International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) Meeting 2017 in Tampa, FL to receive her award. The Peanut Proud Scholarship awards the selected student a $2,000 cash prize and covers all expenses to attend the IAFP Meeting.

 

 

 2017 – Focusing on Industrial Recruitment of Scientific Talent (FIRST) Conference selected recipient in Cincinnati, OH, September 17-21, 2017 sponsored by The Procter & Gamble Company.

FIRST is a five-day, all expense-paid professional conference held on September 17-21, 2017, in Cincinnati, OH sponsored by The Procter & Gamble Company. FIRST is a very competitive conference to be selected, which gives a great insight about challenges, career opportunities, and expectations in industrial research. Selected participants learn about R&D at P&G, and understand the important parameters essential to succeed in a technical career in academia, private sector, or government.

Yagmur Yegin is currently a Ph.D. student under supervision of Dr. Alejandro Castillo in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Texas A&M University. She holds a B.S. degree in Food Engineering from Celal Bayar University-Turkey, and an M.S. degree in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Texas A&M University. Yagmur`s research interests are focused on various fields including nanotechnology applications in food safety, controlled release of active ingredients in food systems, synthesis and characterization of antimicrobial nanoparticles, and effect of surface chemistry and topography on bacterial attachment. Additionally, Yagmur is also a Certified Food Scientist (CFS).

Congratulations on your achievements Yagmur. Gig’em!

2017 SEBM Young Investigator Award

Derek Seidel was selected to receive a 2017 Young Investigator Award from the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine (SEBM) at this year’s Experimental Biology conference held in Chicago, IL. Derek’s presentation was entitled, “Dried Plums Modify the Colon Luminal Metabolome in a Rat Model of Colon Carcinogenesis.”