Nutrition Undergraduate Students Receive Prestigious 2022 College Awards

Two graduating seniors in Clinical Nutrition have been selected to receive prestigious commencement awards from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). Leslie Tran has been awarded the Charles Hess Community Service Award. Yue Jin has been awarded the Mary Regan Meyer Prize. They will be recognized at commencement ceremonies June 11th. A continuing student in Clinical Nutrition, Elizabeth Dui, has been selected as the recipient of the CA&ES Walker Outstanding Peer Advisor Award for excellence in Department Peer-Advising services. She was recognized at the Walker Advising Award ceremony on May 20th.

Leslie Tran clearly embodies the values of the Charles Hess Community Service Award, which aims to recognize and encourage more students to become involved in community and public service activities while in college. The award is given to a student who demonstrates both an outstanding academic record and an active record of community and public service. Leslie received a silver recognition for the Community Service Award from the Community Service Resource Center at UC Davis based on over 300 hours of community service. She has served in diverse community organizations, including Team Davis Good Foods Garden, Recognizing Illness Very Early and Responding (RIVER), and most recently joining the Health Team Lab (HTL), a project funded by Healthy UC Davis.  She also has spent time as a Kitchen intern for Peregrine School volunteering to help prepare and create meals for elementary school students, and conducted Nutrition Education workshops for Best Buddies Northern CA. Leslie will be continuing her professional education and training by completing a southern California Dietetic Internship to become a Registered Dietitian.

Yue Jin is highly deserving of the Mary Regan Meyer Prize, which is given to a student with an outstanding academic record, demonstrated expertise and an interest in serving humanity, interest and intention to embark on post-baccalaureate graduate or professional level education, and broad intellectual interest as indicated in both course work and activities on-and off-campus. In addition to maintaining an excellent academic record, Yue has been involved in a broad array of activities during her undergraduate career, including volunteering in clinics in both Sacramento, CA and Jingsu, China, fundraising for a nursing home in Shaanxi, and serving in the Good Foods Garden Program. Yue also served as Vice President of the Body Project, a student-run organization devoted to reducing body shame for female students. She was a Health Coach Director for Recognizing Illnesses Very Early & Responding (RIVER), a preventative health initiative providing accessible health coaching to underserved communities in Northern California. She was also a Blog Content Editor for Homemade, a student-led organization dedicated to promoting healthy eating and home cooking. Yue will be continuing her education and training at Cornell University to become a Registered Dietitian.

Elizabeth Dui received the Walker Peer Advisor Award for outstanding contributions to Academic Advising in the CA&ES.  She is a junior clinical nutrition major and has been a nutrition department peer advisor for 1.5 years. Elizabeth helps to advise undergraduate students in the department, puts on presentations on a variety of advising topics, and participates in events throughout the year. Her work has helped improve collaboration among staff, increase access to information, and promote holistic advising. She is recognized for her proactive and innovative approaches for supporting students, with an emphasis on wellness, and her ability to continue to learn and improve her advising practice. Elizabeth’s professionalism, enthusiasm, and teamwork earns praise from both advisees and staff. Aside from working as a peer advisor, Elizabeth has interned with the Team Davis Good Foods Garden Program, creating interactive garden-based nutrition lessons for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is a nutrition intern with the UC Davis Diabetes Prevention Program, volunteers with Recognizing Illnesses Very Early and Responding (RIVER) on campus, and volunteers at the Joan Viteri Memorial Clinic in Sacramento. Additionally, she has interned in three different labs on campus and is currently working on her Honors Thesis. In everything that she does, Elizabeth is enthusiastic, a strong leader and an excellent collaborator.