What is your position at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln?
I am a registered dietitian and extension educator for Nebraska Extension’s Nutrition Education Program (NEP). My position is funded by federal grants, called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food, Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). I work in the area of early childhood health, healthy families and program evaluation.
What drew you to University of Nebraska–Lincoln?
I have always loved education, and I’m personally very interested in nutrition and physical activity. This position has allowed me to combine education and nutrition/physical activity into my work.
What aspect of working in an educational setting do you enjoy the most?
I am obsessed about being organized and I love coordinating details, so my favorite part of my work includes coordinating the details of a state-wide childcare provider training, called Go NAP SACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care). This program is focused on training childcare providers on nutrition, physical activity and infant feeding best practices, while also helping coach the childcare providers on how to improve the health-related best practices of their facility.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I am very proud of the work that extension does with Go NAP SACC. Last year, the Nebraska Extension Go NAP SACC team reached 47 childcare centers/homes through Go NAP SACC. This included training 253 childcare providers about nutrition and physical activity best practices, providing 177 hours of coaching with childcare providers and through all this work, we impacted the lives of 3,619 children.
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
My favorite sandwich is a peanut butter and pickle (sweet pickle) sandwich. My family, the Bakers, all love PB and pickle sandwiches and nearly all of the 13 grandkids love them, too.
What is your life like outside of work?
When I’m not at work, I am most definitely with my family. I am married to a farmer, named Brett, and we have four busy daughters (ages 10, 8, 6 and 1). Our oldest two daughters play softball, so we spend our summers at the softball fields. My favorite hobby is running and being physically active!