The UC Office of the President established the Global Food Initiative (GFI) and developed a fellowship program to support it. The GFI efforts at UC Merced have been geared toward food security, health, and sustainability.
Some of our fellow's contact information and project descriptions:
Jolene Hoang
Undergraduate - Mechanical Engineering
jhoang39@ucmerced.edu
Assist's in researching the People's Fridge and support the Bobcat Eats Food Waste Awareness and Prevention Program through conducting food rescues.
Gabrielle Przybyszewski
Undergraduate - Psychology
gprzybyszewski@ucmerced.edu
Design and implement innovative mechanical engineering solutions to problems facing the Bobcat Eats Food Waste Awareness and Prevention Program including the People's Fridge and Pop-Up People's Pantry and to support the Bobcat Eats Food Waste Awareness and Prevention Program through conducting food rescues.
Edeline Ortiz
Undergraduate - Mechanical Engineering
eortiz53@ucmerced.edu
The Nutrition Outreach Fellow will lead the development of education initiatives aligning goals of Basic Needs programs with those of campus partners such as Health Promotion, Community Nutrition Lab, Dining, Social Justice Initiatives and more.
UC Merced's Global Food Initiative Campus Collaborative Center
UC Merced's Global Food Initiative (GFI) Campus Collaborative is a UC-wide effort, funded by the UC Office of the President, to create a central coordinating space to support and nurture innovative research, outreach, and extension projects to solve challenges related to food system, health, and sustainability.
The UC Merced Campus Collaborative is focused on facilitating research, coordination, communication, and improvement of food and food security-related resources on campus and in surrounding San Joaquin Valley communities.
In January 2021, five faculty and graduate students were awarded Grow Grants to work on food systems, food security, and food sustainability research across the three schools at UC Merced.
The current co-leads of UC Merced's Campus Collaborate are Karina Diaz Rios (UC Cooperative Extension Specialist) and Denise D. Payan (Assistant Professor of Public Health). Other members of the team include:
Neha Zahid, MPH
UC Merced Campus Collaborative Research Specialist
Kimberly Sanchez, MPH
Graduate Student Researcher
Public Health Ph.D. Student - Dept of Public Health
Jaerika Marie Vega
Undergraduate Student Assistant Intern
Undergraduate student - Dept of Public Health
