Research

Micro-greens.
If you look closely, you can see the micro-greens are being harvested with a knife. Seeds are soaked in water overnight and then allowed to grow. They are harvested when two leaves appear. Serve as salad, in smoothies or as a nutritious garnish.

Sprouts are grown on fiber mats bio-fortified with micro-nutrients. Here the sprouts have been dried and are ready for nutrient analysis. One goal of my research is the study of micro-nutrients and how to increase them in our food supply.

photo 1Africa

This photo was taken in Malawi, Africa where I was a food/nutrition/health educator in a rural village.

My research interests are in the food, health and education areas.  Participants were asked questions about their perceptions of health related programs which were designed to be as similar as possible with the exception of numeracy. For example, the programs were developed to be similar in the number of words and efficacy.  Variation existed in the descriptive numeracy that was used.  One program used simple whole numbers under ten and a second program included a more complex description of a similar program using percentages.   This was a very interesting look at how complex communication of health educational information might affect participant’s choice of programs.  Another research project looked at elicitation of perceptions of nutrition information as depicted by concept mapping. Other lines of research have focused on increasing micro-essential nutrients in micro-greens and other plants.