Julia Campos, an undergraduate senior majoring in Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, interned with CHL for her FSHN 492 Field Experience during this Fall 2024 semester. She learned about the CHL Center through her professor Dr. Jean Butel, who is also CHL’s Hawaii jurisdiction lead. During her internship, Julia worked with CHL’s Data Manager Rica Dela Cruz on 2 main projects: 1) a literature review on food assistance and child wellness policies implemented in CHL’s Pacific region and 2) development of infographics for CHL’s 11 jurisdictions based on the top reported foods from food record data collected in 2013. The goal of developing the infographics was to take information from CHL’s academic research and turn it into a helpful education and outreach resource for CHL communities.
Through this internship, Julia gained a variety of new skills and functions on Excel and Canva, and learned that organizing and processing data is an acquired skill that requires patience. She expressed, “I am more confident in my abilities to handle data in excel and produce visually pleasing and organized graphs.” In working on these project, she also realized how much work and time goes into research and data analysis, so she is pleased to have been a part of CHL’s ongoing research program.
Aside from the technical skills, Julia enjoyed learning about all the Pacific jurisdictions and was happy that she is able to make some impact through creating educational infographics specific for these communities. Julia emphasized, “I am passionate about nutrition and health, so doing work that I know will make its way into the community is gratifying.” Julia graduates with her bachelor’s degree this Fall 2024 and CHL wishes her the very best on her future career in nutrition and health!