I'm a professor of human nutrition  at Central Michigan University (CMU)  in the Department of Human Environmental Studies.    I teach graduate courses and advise graduate students in our online MS in Nutrition & Dietetics program.   I'm busy as an academic advisor for our undergraduate Dietetics major with  approximately 110 students.  I also work with another 110 students in the Nutrition minor (I'm an advisor for the Nutrition minor).   We also have a  thriving CMU Dietetic Internship (CMUDI) for students who wish to become registered dietitians.  I also teach undergraduates who are majors and minors in Foodservice Administration.I especially enjoy teaching and working with students (and trying new things, like experimenting with Internet-based instruction)   My research interests include life cycle nutrition,  food and culture, nutrition education, and food selection patterns.

I assumed the position of Coordinator, First Year Experience (FYE) in January 2005.  I have been a faculty member in the Department of Human Environmental Studies since 1991.  In 1995, I chaired a university committee that started discussions to develop an FYE program at CMU.  Prior to CMU, I was a faculty member for 12 years at the University of South Carolina, the location of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.  I worked in the same academic department as John Gardner, founder of the FYE, and Dan Berman, current Director of the FYE program at the University of South Carolina.  I was fortunate to participate in one of the earlier FYE instructor workshops at South Carolina.  Several years ago, I participated in the International Conference on the FYE in Newcastle, England where I delivered a presentation on teaching science to first year students.

 I was born and grew up in Staten Island, NY and lived there until I went to college.   I'm a registered dietitian (RD) with the American Dietetic Association.