Intro Post

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Hello! I am Stephanie Nash and I'm a second year undergrad student at the University of Alberta. I am currently majoring in Nutrition and Food Sciences and minoring in Physical Activity. I have always been interested in nutritional health and how that connects with an active lifestyle. I hope to eventually complete my undergrad degree and continue my education with a Masters of Public Health specializing in Health Promotion.

Different vehicles of online communication are important for my field of study when it comes to networking and sharing of research. For instance, peer-reviewed articles can easily be found through Twitter and different science blogs which are useful for the sharing of research. A lot of the blogs we have looked at in ALES 204 haven't necessarily been peer-reviewed but they have contributed to the popularization of different science topics. My professor for ALES 204 shared a few science-related blogs with our class and I was shocked at how easy it was to compile different scientific information into one blog with several links to other blogs. One of the links given was to the Public Library of Science. This is an amazing resource that can be used to find numerous science articles from several different science fields. I found some very interesting articles pertaining to nutrition and health and, through our classroom use of twitter, I found out that students in other programs found interesting articles related to their field of study. These are just a few examples of how social media and the online community have helped science journalism.

Twitter has also made it possible for researchers and students to connect with one another and share information. Personally, having recently joined twitter, I am amazed at how easy it is to connect with different scientists, nutritional organizations and fellow classmates. I recently read an article by Travis Saunders on his blog Obesity Panacea about the factors leading to pediatric obesity. I really enjoyed this article and wanted to share it with my friends and classmates so I posted a link to Twitter. This is a perfect example of how easy social media has made the transfer of knowledge and research. I am able to find healthy recipes, good workouts and other health nuts like myself!

This is my first blog I've ever had and I can't wait to share my love for science and nutrition. After looking at a few other blogs from this class, I came across a blog that was insightful and shared my interest in nutrition. It was very well written and looks great. You guys should check it out!I look forward to this semester of blogging and I hope that you find my posts interesting and thoughtful. Good luck to all my ALES 204 classmates!

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Photo References:

1. University of Alberta Logo [Digital Image]. 2009. Retrieved on January 18, 2012, from http://www.ualberta.ca/~actuaria/

2. Fruit [Digital Image]. 2011. Retrieved on January 18, 2012, from http://www.appliednutritioncanada.com/