Meet the recipients of the 2022 Arrell Scholarships
Erik Dassoff, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences will begin a Ph.D. with Dr. Amanda Wright and his project will aim to understand how food processing and formulation alters the digestion of nutrients, and the resulting health impacts. He hopes to design food products which can reduce feelings of hunger, improve weight loss outcomes, and reduce cardiometabolic risk factors. With a background in industrial-scale food processing, food formulation, flavor, and product development he believes his work can transform food systems to provide communities with tasty, safe, and healthy food products, using affordable and sustainable ingredients.
Tiwalola Alabi, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development will be completing an M.Sc. in Capacity Development and Extension with Dr. Helen Hambly. Her research will be considering the nexus between the various communication approaches, capacity development, and the adoption of grain legumes for household food security and livelihood improvement among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. She hopes that this research will prepare her to contribute to the sustainable agriculture development of her home nation of Nigeria, where millions of smallholder farmers depend upon grain legumes.
Nicholas Bannon, Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics will be working as a master’s student under the supervision of Dr. Brady Deaton to explore the relationship between climate and land values to anticipate the effects of climate change on farmland values. Nicholas hopes his work will help improve planning at both the farm-level and government policy level and lay the groundwork to provide strategies to help the food system navigate the uncertainties surrounding climate change and ensure communities have access to sustainable food. Nicholas is interested in researching topics related to ensuring the sustainability of the food system from an economic perspective.
Chinaza Arinzechukwu, Department of Food Science will be working on her Ph.D. in Food Science with Dr. Maria Corradini. Her project will aim to adopt novel techniques to assess the roles of food microstructure on the formation, stability and degradation of acrylamide, a common toxin and potential carcinogenic compound found in popularly consumed baked food products in developed and developing countries. Chinaza’s research will focus on finding strategies to mitigate the formation of acrylamide while maintaining the desirable characteristics of the food product, contributing to more safe and quality food products.
Tunmise Faith Ehigbor, Department of Animal Biosciences will be working toward a M.Sc. under the supervision of Dr. Tina Widowski. His project is assessing the value of offering edible enrichments (pecking blocks) to laying hens to support foraging behaviour, reduce feather pecking and improve welfare. Feather pecking, a behavior found in layer flocks results in economic loss to farmers all over the world. By increasing the attention to animal welfare, Faith hopes to improve the productivity, quality, food safety, and economic returns for farmers, contributing to overall food security and economic prosperity.
Dakota Cherry, Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition will be completing an M.Sc. with Dr. Kim Anderson. Her research will examine the effects of school-based garden projects on educational and health outcomes in high-risk communities, particularly remote First Nations with barriers to food access. With this research, Dakota hopes to find tangible strategies to engage communities in building healthful, sustainable food systems from the ground up, creating opportunities for collaboration across public and private sectors.
The scholarship provides $50,000 a year to support the scholars’ academic studies and gives them the opportunity to participate in projects, meet leaders and develop workplace ready training. Read more.