I am excited to be coordinating my first topic in the Flinders University Nutrition and Dietetics discipline in Semester 1, 2018. The topic ‘Fundamentals of Nutritional Epidemiology’ is an online topic for 3rd year Nutrition and Dietetics students, and some students from other disciplines including Health Sciences. I am passionate about teaching and enjoy assisting students to improve their knowledge and understanding of topic content, and enjoy using different teaching strategies to ensure a dynamic learning process. In particular, I have a keen interest in the philosophies and strategies of online teaching. I believe in the importance of challenging students through different learning experiences so they graduate as flexible, career-ready with an appreciation of the importance of lifelong learning.
I graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and spent my first three years post-University working in policy and project management in the Nutrition Section of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. In the last nine, I have juggled the responsibilities of a young family with working in various casual positions across three Colleges at Flinders University. These roles have included Tutoring and Coordinating several different topics, Research Assistance for a large number of projects, and Project Management. In 2012 I completed Honours investigating the associations between sedentary behaviour and poor diet in children and adolescents.
I am enjoying continuing to strengthen my teaching skills whilst imparting my research methods knowledge and experience. One of my teaching goals is to encourage students to consider research as a potential future career/study path.