University of North Dakota Weeks 6 & 7!

I decided to combine weeks six and seven together into one post since my week six was spent almost entirely in the office...probably not too exciting to write about. I also managed to not take a single picture during this time. Oops! Anyway, during my sixth week, I spent a lot of time doing tasks on FoodPro—similar to the work I was doing the first few weeks of my internship.

Aside from my work with FoodPro, over the past few weeks, Haley and I have been working on preparing study sessions for Dining Services employees that are taking their ServSafe exam at the end of the month. A small group of individuals did not pass the exam last year, so we are holding mandatory hour-long classes for them. During this time, we show the (very entertaining) ServSafe video corresponding with a certain chapter. We also provide worksheets to keep the employees engaged during the video and afterwards we go over the answers in a PowerPoint to give time for questions. We held two sessions during week six, and two more during week seven. We will be finishing up next week with a Jeopardy review game. So far, the review sessions seem to be going really well, and we have had positive feedback from everyone. Hopefully it all pays off when they need to take their exam at the end of the month!

I began week seven by spending Monday and Tuesday at the Human Nutrition Research Center, located just off campus. Haley and I shadowed Bonnie, the chief Research Dietitian at the Center, for most of the time we spent there. She gave us a tour of the facility and filled us in as much as possible about the current studies going on. Scattered throughout the walls of the facility are posters presenting theses on a broad range of topics. Nutrition is kind of a funny science—there were posters that looked straight out of a biochemistry textbook beside posters comparing different types of potatoes. This definitely keeps things interesting; researchers can go in so many different directions when it comes to studying food interacting with the body. One comment that Bonnie made that really stood out to me was when she explained how her job allows her to always be learning something new. What could be better than getting paid to learn about nutrition??

 

Example of the posters presenting different topics in the Research Center-- this one is comparing the glycemic effects of different sweeteners. Conclusion: just because honey is natural, it is not healthier for you than regular sugar

The main floor of the Research Center holds different laboratories which all looked more or less the same. However, unlike most research facilities, there were two kitchens used specifically for preparing food for those participating in studies. Bonnie explained to us that sometimes participants will literally live in the center for months at a time. This way, the scientists can control every aspect of their diet and physical activity, making their studies as accurate as possible. Apparently, many of  the participants are people who are artists or writers looking to spend a lot of time working on their current project, or masters or doctoral students working on a thesis. Since they get paid to participate in the study, and are provided with housing and meals, it actually works out to their advantage.

Near the living area in the research center is where the “Metabolic Chamber” is located—not as terrifying as it sounds. The chamber is nothing more than a closed off room that allows scientists to track exactly how much oxygen and carbon dioxide a person is inhaling/exhaling (similar to breathing into a mask used to measure the same thing). The really incredible part of this information is that from there, scientists are able to reveal tons of other information—for example, someone’s complete calorie expenditure. This allows researchers to gather information at all times of day and after different eating different foods. The “Breath Light” study requires participants to stay in the metabolic chamber for two 24-hour periods. During this time, they are given meals varying in amount of protein, served with either a sugar-sweetened beverage, or a splenda-sweetened beverage. The point of the study is to determine if consuming a sugar sweetened beverage with a meal has an effect on the overall absorption of the meal.

Metabolic Chamber aka super high tech dorm room

The rooms in the living area look almost completely normal--one weird aspect of them, however, are the chambers used to pass urine samples through.

Another study that we got to read about and sit-in on a presentation about it called “Veg Up”. It’s a less complicated study aimed at determining if providing individuals with a certain amount of vegetables per week will increase their overall vegetable consumption after the study ends. Two perfect examples of how complicated or simple nutrition research can be.

We also had a chance to meet with the exercise physiologist, Bill, while we were still at the research center, which Haley and I both found to be extremely interesting. After we were done talking to him, we both left questioning everything we know about exercise. In addition to making our brains hurt, Bill showed us all of the equipment the exercise physiologists use when conducting research. Aside from the treadmills and stationary bikes, there were multiple machines used to measure body composition. Most interesting was the “bod pod” which is a spaceship-like contraption I had only seen pictures of up until now. The bod pod essentially measures your weight and the amount of space you take up, which enables researchers to determine your body density using a few equations. We also got to see a DEXA machine, which measures both body composition and bone density by using X-rays.

 

Poster in the exercise physiology lab-- comparing body compositions of 4 people with just about the same Body Mass Index

Hanging out in the Bod Pod

Weird, right?

The Wednesday after our time at the Nutrition Research Center, we met with Lynette, who is in charge of budgeting for Dining Services. She showed us the spreadsheets that she works on, which were quite overwhelming to look at! She explained that under Dining Services, each operation has its own account. This means that each Dining Center, C-store, and coffee shop has their own budget that needs to fit into the Dining Services budget. It was hard for me to fathom being responsible for so many numbers, but it is important to understand how budgeting works. 

I finished up week seven by getting the chance to work a wedding with catering. The couple got married on campus and hired campus catering to prepare meals for the guests and set up the dining room. There were two options for dinner: barbecue chicken or coconut shrimp--both served with potatoes and carrots. So random!!! I will, however, admit that both dishes were delicious! On Friday, the day before the wedding, Haley and I worked in the kitchen doing a bit of prep so everything was ready to go on the big day. On Saturday, we continued to help in the kitchen with more prep and plating. We also assisted with serving the plates to the guests and cleaning up. Since I'm so used to working more in the back of the house, it was a bit of a new experience for me having to serve. I was so nervous I was going to drop a plate on someone's dress or suit! Luckily, I managed to get by without any major incidents. It was a lot of hard work, but it was fun to be part of something so special! 

A table set up from the wedding!

Snack bar set up at the wedding. Not one of the roles of catering, but adorable anyway!

The wedding cake--for display only-- the guests were actually served their cake from huge sheet cakes provided by the UND bakery! 

I enjoyed being able to look at how everything was set up for the wedding. Everything was kept very simple; decorations included just white Christmas lights, and little birds. Nothing was too extravagant, so it came together nicely! I thought the snack bar and the name tags clipped on clothes pins were adorable! I also decided that the most difficult part of working with catering is not setting up or having to serve-- it's controlling your urge to dance when the party you're serving is all dancing!!

Although my work week was actually longer than normal since we were working on Saturday, it surprisingly went by quicker than most! I used my day off to catch up on rest and do some biking around town. Now, I just have one final week here in Grand Forks and I can't believe it!

Haley and I biking on the Greenway!