Experience and Interests
Teaching experience
- Professor of Nutrition, UW-Stevens Point (2010-present)
- Associate Professor of Nutrition, UW-Stevens Point (2006-2010)
- Assistant Professor of Nutrition, UW-Stevens Point (2001-2006)
Professional interests
- Community health promotion
- Sports nutrition
- Community development
Involvement
Campus service (since 2017)
- 2020-present Constitution & Handbook Review Subcommittee
- 2019-20 Program discontinuation workgroup
- 2018-19 RPD 20-24 Consultative Committee
- 2017- Graduate Council
- 2015-2017, 18-19 Chair, Academic Affairs Committee
Community involvement
- 2019- Developing legislation in partnership the Fruit & Veggie Network, Farmshed, and Katrina
- Shankland for funding EBT machines for every farmer in the state of WI
- Healthy Weight Action Team (1 of 3 health focus areas in the 2019-2023 CHIP)
- 2018 Healthy People Portage County, 2019-2023 Community Health Improvement Plan initiative
- Portage County Prosperity 2040; Local Government Institute of Wisconsin and
- Future Regions Initiative
- Portage County Local Indicators for Excellence (LIFE) Report, Health and Wellness
- Subcommittee
- 2016- Board of Directors, Central Rivers Farmshed, Stevens Point, WI
- 2013-2017 Founding member and Steering Committee member, Hmong Health Coalition, Wausau, WI
- 2008-present President, Portage County CAN Coalition, Portage County, WI
Professional memberships
- Society for Nutrition Education & Behavior
- America College of Sports Medicine
- American Society for Nutritional Sciences
Presentations and Publications
- K Thao, Y Xiong, A Wetter, M Lor. The Survey of the Health of the Wausau Area Hmong Population: SHWAHP. North American Primary Care Research Group Annual Meeting, Nov, Montreal. 2017
Fun Facts
Last book you read?
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Best advice you ever received?
A mentor refused to write a letter of recommendation for my graduate school application because he felt my strengths would be better applied in a different field.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Anything that would allow me to help people.
Favorite Quote?
“The most important work is not done by those who seem the most important, but by those who care the most.” Caroline Kennedy
One thing about your school that you are most proud of?
The Food & Nutrition Unit is not afraid to ask difficult questions about our programs and have difficult conversations.
The new School of Health Sciences & Wellness is a model of collaboration to synergize resources to better serve the campus, professions, students, and communities across WI.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
I get to apply my creative and conceptual skills to help people, whether they are developing their intellectual and professional skills or seeking pathways to better health and wellbeing.
A piece of advice for students in your school?
Strive to find your own authentic path in life: one that honors your values, is carved by intentional decision making, evolves due to conscious awareness of whether it’s “working for you”, and that you travel upon lightly because it is illuminated by your strengths and desires (and not someone else’s).
Videos