Harvesting Healthy Habits

Harvesting Healthy Habits in Long Beach: A Nutrition and Gardening Intervention to Prevent Chronic Diseases among Underserved Populations

Harvesting Healthy Habits is an integrated project aiming to improve eating patterns to prevent chronic diseases and increase food access among underserved low-income and racial/ ethnic minority children enrolled in 3rd to 5th grade and their families. The integrated project (education, research, extension) aims to:

  • Engage community and university stakeholders in the design, testing, and implementation of the intervention and the design of student training activities;
  • Improve eating habits and nutrition knowledge among underserved youth grades 3rd to 5th and their parents/caregivers. A total of 174 youth and their parents/caregivers will be recruited to participate in the study;
  • Increase the number of underserved 新澳门六合彩资料 undergraduate and graduate students prepared to enter the workforce or graduate school. A total of 12 undergraduate and 6 graduate students will be selected to engage in a comprehensive research training and experiential learning fellowship; and
  • Strengthen underserved communities in Long Beach by improving food security and nutritional health outcomes for study participants and their families

Funder

U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 National Institute of Food and Agriculture Award # 2023-69015-39407

Funding Period

January 2023 鈥 January 2026

Program Activities

Undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to apply for a 9-month experiential learning fellowship. A total of 18 students (12 undergraduate and 6 graduate) from the departments of Nutrition, Health Science, Kinesiology or other health-related field at 新澳门六合彩资料 will be selected and trained in community-engaged research.

Orientation and training will be provided to selected research fellows to understand the contexts wherein nutrition and health-related decisions and behaviors occur; followed by experiential hands-on learning via community-engaged research, nutrition and gardening health promotion, and data collection and evaluation.

 

Undergraduate Student Required Qualifications
  • 新澳门六合彩资料 student pursuing a degree in health science, nutrition, and kinesiology or another health-related major;
  • Junior or senior standing;
  • 18 years or older
  • Enrolled in at least 6 units during the 2024-2025 academic year;
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA
  • Commit to 15 hours per week for 12 months;
  • Reliable transportation with ability to travel to various sites in the City of Long Beach;
  • Must be able to attend all trainings and project meetings
  • Available on some evenings and weekends for intervention activities. 
Graduate Student Required Qualifications
  • 新澳门六合彩资料 student pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in public health, kinesiology, nutrition, or other health related field 
  • 18 years or older
  • Enrolled in at least 6 units during the 2024-2025 academic year;
  • Minimum 3.2 GPA;
  • Commit to 15 hours per week for 12 months;
  • Reliable transportation with ability to travel to various sites in the City of Long Beach;
  • Must be able to attend all trainings and project meetings
  • Available on some evenings and weekends for intervention activities.

Preference will be given to first-generation educated (parents/legal guardians may not hold a bachelor鈥檚 degree from a U.S. university), students with financial need, members of racial/ethnic minority groups, and students with disabilities. Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred. 

Fellowship Activities & Time Commitment
  • Fellowship dates: June 3, 2024-May 30, 2025
  • Research training with emphasis in nutrition and chronic disease, community-based participatory research, and research ethics;
  • Experiential learning with opportunity to develop and/or implement an intervention to improve eating habits and healthy lifestyles;
  • Mentorship from faculty and staff;
  • Professional development;
  • Opportunity to travel to a conference;
  • Complete evaluation surveys to assess the effectiveness of the student training program.
Mandatory Orientation & Onboarding:
  • June 3-6, 2024, 10am-4pm 
  • June 10-12, 2024, 10am-4pm
  • June 17-18, 2024, 10am-4pm
Fellowship Benefits
  • Enhance student preparedness for graduate school or the workforce;
  • Develop leadership and research skills and abilities;
  • Engage in a research experience;
  • Receive mentorship from faculty and staff;
  • Connect with 新澳门六合彩资料 peers, faculty, and staff; and
  • Receive a monthly scholarship stipend and one-time funding to travel to a conference.
Student Application

The complete application package must include: 

  • Complete Research Fellow Application on
  • Unofficial Transcripts from 新澳门六合彩资料
  • One (1) letter of recommendation from a current or former instructor, advisor, or supervisor (submitted by the recommender via this Qualtrics link: )
  • A Personal Statement (500 words) 
    • Describe your interest in engaging in public health community research. Why are you interested in working with underserved populations in Long Beach?
    • Describe your future education and/or career goals. How would this opportunity contribute to those goals?
    • Describe some of your strengths and areas where you are looking to grow further. 
  • Resume (1-page) including college(s) attended, community service/volunteer and work experiences, and extracurricular activities. 

*All documents should be legible and clean copies in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. No pictures of transcripts.

Application Process:
  • Application Review
  • Pre-selected candidates will be invited to an interview between April 26th and April 30th
  • Final selection notifications will be sent by May 3, 2024

Application period has passed

 

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Thanh Danh

Thanh Danh
Major: Nutrition & Dietetics

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Cristian Giron

Cristian Giron
Major: Nutrition & Dietetics

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Melissa Pompa

Melissa Pompa
Major: MPH, Public Health

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Alexis Pope

Alexis Pope
Major: Nutrition & Dietetics 

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Maria Porta

Maria Porta
Major: Nutrition & Dietetics

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Selene Tovar

Selene Tovar           Major: MPH, Public Health

 

 

 

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Lesly Joj-Escun

Lesly Joj-Escun
Major: Healthcare Administration

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Manuel Marroquin

Manuel Marroquin
Major: Nutrition & Dietetics

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Pamela Martinez

Pamela Martinez
Major: MPH, Public Health

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Stephanie Perez Martinez

Stephanie Perez Martinez
Major: MPH, Public Health 

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Stephanie Soto

Stephanie Soto
Major: Health Science

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Beatriz Tovar

Beatriz Tovar           Major: Masters in Nutrition & Dietetics

 

 

Program Staff

Melawhy Garcia, PhD, MPH 
Principal Investigator 
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Science
Melawhy.garcia@csulb.edu

Natalia Gatdula, MPH
Co-Investigator
Associate Director, Center for Latino Community Health
Natalia.gatdula@csulb.edu

Andrea Luna, MPH
Research Coordinator, Center for Latino Community Health
Andrea.luna@csulb.edu 

Gail C. Frank, DrPH, MPH, RD, CHES
Faculty Mentor
Gail.frank@csulb.edu