Presenters

Allison Fiscus (Utah Pork Producers)
I have been with the Utah Pork Producers since 2010 educating today&rsqudo;s consumers about how the pork industry has changed over the last 50 years. With the new temperature of 145 degrees, consumers are loving the taste of juicy pork.

Carolyn Washburn, MS, CFCS (Utah State University Extension)
Carolyn Washburn, Associate Professor, is a Family Consumer Science Agent, for Utah State University Extension in St. George, UT. Carolyn’s responsibilities include financial management education, food safety and nutrition, healthy family relations, emergency preparedness and working with youth. Carolyn worked in the Public School system in Sevier County, prior to relocating to ST. George. She is the chair of the Washington County Marriage Coalition, promoting healthy family and marriage relations. Her goal is to help individuals and families avoid the “crunch” of life by being financially prepared and healthy for any emergency. She serves on the national disaster education network. Her most cherished award is America’s Promise, awarded by Colin Powell.

Debra Christofferson, RD. (Utah State University)
Debbie is a registered dietetian who learned long before she became a dietitian that good health is not about the latest, greatest nutrient in the news, but about learning to love whole foods for the way they bring a family to the table and nourish both body and soul. She loves to read, cook, play in the dirt, and run outside.

Greg Silverman, (Cooking Matters)
Chef Greg Silverman, Msc recently returned from living in London where he was working for the city of London to help combat childhood obesity through the transfer of culinary skills and as a consultant with London School Boroughs to help them increase the quality and decrease the cost of their from scratch school meals. In a couple years living in London he found a new appreciation of swede(rutabaga), hand pulled pints of ale, and good ole fashion blood pudding!!! Before that, Greg ran his own restaurants (Stella’s Café, Stella’s Bar, and Olivia Restaurant) and catering businesses in Ithaca, New York for about 12 years. Greg has also squeezed in time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, a culinary degree from the French Culinary Institute, a masters in Food and Nutrition Policy and even spent last winter researching school feeding programs in Bangladesh!
Greg Silverman has a true passion for teaching families how to cook healthy and affordable meals — and an impressive and varied background to draw upon in leading Cooking Matters’ national efforts to leverage its assets in new ways. Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters empowers families at risk of hunger with the skills, knowledge and confidence to make healthy and affordable meals. With the help of volunteer culinary and nutrition experts, course participants learn how to select nutritious and low–cost ingredients and prepare them in ways that provide the best nourishment possible to their families. Greg is leading Cooking Matters non–course educational outreach, including its new grocery store tours, Shopping Matters, engaging national level partners in collaborative efforts to decrease childhood hunger through nutritional education , and is a member of the national steering committee of Chefs Move To School, all in the effort to reach even more families across the country with valuable tools to stretch scarce resources and make NO KID HUNGRY.

Heidi LeBlanc, MS., CFCS. (Utah State University)
Heidi LeBlanc is the director of the Food $ense program. She oversees the Utah plan and contract with the Department of Workforce Services, and USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Program. Heidi has worked with Extension for 14 years — working as a county Extension Agent in San Juan County from 1998 – 2005 and as Food $ense director from 2005 until current. She has always had an interest in food and nutrition. Heidi lives in Mantua, Utah with her husband and children. She loves to draw, paint, garden, design, read, play, and write.

Jennifer Turley, PhD. (Weber State University)
Dr. Jennifer Turley is an associate professor of nutrition and online nutrition program director at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where she has been actively involved in teaching, scholarship, and service for almost 10 years. She received her Ph.D. in nutritional science from the University of Texas at Austin and held a four–year postdoctoral research fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland. Dr. Turley’s nutrition specialty areas are cancer and immunity. Her basic laboratory experiences centered on investigating vitamin E as an anticancer agent in human cancer cells and determining novel mechanisms of action for this essential nutrient. Nutrition and immunity, especially as they relate to food allergies and intolerances, are areas of both personal and professional interest. She is also interested the areas of food system sustainability and the personal and environmental benefits of organic foods. She centers her personal life on faith, family, and friendship and her professional life on education and empowerment for the enhancement of self and life. Dr. Turley pursues a healthy, active, and balanced lifestyle and hopes that students who study nutrition are able to apply the concepts learned to experience the most valuable thing in life personal health and long-lived well being.

Joan Thompson, PhD. (Weber State University)
Dr. Thompson received her bachelor’s from the University of California, Berkeley with a triple major of food science, nutritional science, and dietetics. She received her master’s degree from the University of Arizona, Tucson in agricultural biochemistry and nutrition. Her master’s project was “Zinc Supplementation in Head and Neck Cancer Patients during Radiation Therapy.” Joan’s doctorate was also earned at the University of Arizona in Nutritional Biochemistry, and her research project was “Zinc Supplementation in Chronic Renal Failure Patients Requiring Hemodialysis.” Dr. Thompson worked for the Utah Department of Health analyzing pediatric data from Utah’s WIC program for four years. During the last twenty years, Dr. Thompson has created a nutrition program at Weber State University, and has had research interests in body image, nutraceuticals, sports nutrition and nutrition education. She has collaborated with Dr. Jennifer Turley for the past ten years with authorship for the textbook used for the Foundations in Nutrition course taught at Weber State University. She functioned as the dietitian for the 2004 US Olympic female throwers. For the last four summers, she has mentored students doing nutraceutical and human performance research in shift workers as a part of a research grant from the National Science Foundation supporting Research Education for Undergraduates (NSF–REU).

Karen Allen, Ph.D. (Utah State University)
Dr. Allen is currently the Extension Food Quality & Entrepreneurship Specialist at Utah State University, assisting individuals and small businesses with product development, shelf life, and labeling regulations. Previously, she worked as a lecturer in the Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science department, teaching food science and culinary courses. She holds a BS in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management, and an MS and PhD in Food Science, all from Utah State University. Her research interests include extending food shelf life using natural ingredients, and finding ways to improve the nutritional profile of foods without sacrificing flavor. She is also an avid gardener, and enjoys exploring alternatives to canning to make the most of the harvest each year.

Kristi Spence MS, RD, CSSD, CD (Director of Health & Wellness, Dairy Council UT/NV)
Currently the Vice President of Health, Wellness, and Industry Communications for the Dairy Council of Utah/Nevada, Kristi Spence is a registered dietitian and certified specialist in sport dietetics. Kristi blends her passion for food and health with her science background in order to communicate with health and industry professionals. Prior to her role with the Dairy Council, Kristi developed nutrition–education programs and hands–on cooking workshops for youth and adults as a sport dietitian with Intermountain Healthcare. She has given lectures around the country on a variety of topics related to health, wellness, school nutrition, and sport nutrition. She is called upon regularly as a nutrition expert for radio and TV interviews, and enjoys the challenge of offering practical real–life nutrition tips for today’s consumer. Kristi completed her master’s degree in nutrition at the University of Utah and earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. Kristi has taught courses on women’s health and lifestyle nutrition at the University of Utah and continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member. She is an active member of SCAN and currently the co–sports editor of the monthly newsletter. Still an avid runner, Kristi is an Olympic Trials qualifier in the Marathon. She loves spending time with her family and tinkering in the kitchen.

Kristi, Spence MS, RD, CSSD, CD
Currently director of health and wellness for the Utah Dairy Council, Kristi Spence is a registered dietitian and certified specialist in sport dietetics. Kristi blends her passion for food and cooking with her science background as she strives to translate scientific concepts into practical lifestyle applications to improve the health of our community. As the sport dietitian for The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Salt Lake City, Kristi developed programs for youth and adults to promote healthy eating and provide sport-specific nutrition education. She completed a master’s degree in nutrition at the University of Utah and earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. As a lecturer in the University of Utah’s Division of Nutrition, Kristi’s "Healthy Weight for Life" course addresses issues in weight management, healthy living, and sustainability.

Melanie Jewkes, MS. (Utah State University Extension)
Melanie works part–time with Utah State University in the Salt Lake County Extension Office as an Extension Assistant Professor. She was born and raised in Orem, Utah, and currently lives in Taylorsville. She enjoys teaching others ways to improve their lives in areas of nutrition and family relations. She spends most of her time raising and playing with her toddler.

Michelle Snow, Ph.D.
Dr. Michelle Snow has published over twenty articles in peer reviewed professional journals and has presented her public health research at national and international conferences. Michelle’s hobbies include gardening, hiking, cooking, crocheting funky blankets, snow skiing, and jet skiing. She and her husband Trent have five children.

Shaun Jackson, PhD (Weber State University)
Dr. Shaun Jackson is an associate professor at the Stewart Library at Weber State University (WSU) in Ogden, Utah. She is the liaison to the Health Promotion and Human Performance Department and Nutrition Program at WSU, and is responsible for maintaining and expanding the library’s print and electronic collections in these areas. Dr. Jackson provides individual research consultation and instruction services for faculty and students, and focuses her instruction on preparing nutrition students for evidence–based practice. She has a personal interest in all aspects of food system sustainability, especially the personal and environmental benefits of organic foods.