Nutrition student selected as UNC’s ‘Tar Heel of the Month’

April 29, 2014

Lindsey Smith, doctoral student in nutrition epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been recognized by the UNC Office of the Dean of Students as April’s “Tar Heel of the Month.”

Lindsey Smith

Smith is actively engaged in service, mentorship and leadership at UNC and in the wider Triangle community. She has combined a passion for public service with her academic interest in nutrition by volunteering with a number of programs aimed at improving healthy diets in low-income populations, including work with the SNAP booth at two local farmers markets and teaching cooking and nutrition classes to low-income teens at Chapel Hill’s Hargraves Community Center.

She has served for two years as a volunteer “healthy living” instructor for the Diabetes BUS, a weight-loss and health initiative for Wake County (N.C.) employees living with Type 2 diabetes, and has volunteered with Charles House Elder Care Center in Carrboro, N.C., and with Habitat for Humanity in Durham, N.C.

Smith was nominated by Shu Wen Ng, PhD, research assistant professor of nutrition at the Gillings School and Smith’s mentor.

“When I heard about the various service efforts Lindsey has been involved with over the past few years, I was amazed but not surprised,” Ng said. “Lindsey is one of the most genuine and caring people I know. She immediately came to mind when I saw the call for nominations for this award.”

The Office of the Dean of Students strives to acknowledge student success and celebrate students who embrace excellence in action. The Tar Heel of the Month initiative provides an opportunity to recognize students who demonstrate successful navigation of their UNC experience through dynamic learning, honor, personal responsibility and/or community engagement.