Associate Professor of Practice, Nutritional Sciences
Ashlee Linares-Gaffer is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and an Assistant Professor of Practice. She teaches several courses including Nutrition and the Lifecycle NSC 301) Principles of Human Nutrition in Health adn Disease NSC 310) and Survey of Careers in Nutrition NSC 396A) a one unit required seminar in which students engage in career exploration activities and developrofessional networking tools, and others. Ashlee also routinely works one on one with undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing professions in healthcare, education, foods, and industry food, pharmaceutical, agriculture) to provide career advice and mentoring. In 2019, she was accepted into the 2nd cohort 2019-2020) of the Hispanic Serving Institution Fellows, a program which is aimed at developing “the scope and depth of work around our HSI designation and provide a venue for community-building and career development for faculty and staff through a project-based leadershiexperience, mentoring and coaching, and a series of targeted workshops.”From 2014-2019 Ashlee coordinated the Department’s ISPP dietetic internshipathway and provided direct training and supervision of dietetic interns each year. She also oversaw academic advising services and the Student Nutrition Advising Center SNAC) from 2015-2019. SNAC is an academic advising center which serves undergraduates majoring in nutrition at UA and leads departmental recruitment initiatives, provides academic support services, and facilitates peer networking.Ashlee is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is a past president for the Southern Arizona District for the Arizona Affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2019-2020 membershiyear. She also served as the Diversity Liaison to the Arizona Academy of Nutrition for 6 years 3 terms) a role which focuses on recruitment of underrepresented minorities into the profession of dietetics. In 2020, Ashlee was recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This designation recognizes commitment to the field of nutrition and dietetics, and celebrates professional accomplishments and pursuit of life-long learning.
Ashlee Linares-Gaffer and Kayle Skorupski, both Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and Associate Professors of Practice at the University of Arizona, have been awarded a grant by the USDA for the 'NOURISH' project. This initiative aims to:
- Provide experiential learning in agriculture and food systems to Nutritional Sciences students pursuing dietetics or other FANH professions.
- Address the lack of formal food systems education and mentoring in the curriculum by offering ongoing culturally responsive mentoring, leadership workshops, and professional organization involvement.
- Enable students to complete eight units of experiential learning focused on food systems, extension, and food science and safety.
- Address the challenges of access to graduate and professional school preparation and mentoring, as well as the complex issue of malnutrition through increased access to healthy and sustainable diets.