Paula Chandler-Laney, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences and Katherine Meese, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Administration are named 2020-21 UAB Honors Faculty Fellows by the UAB Honors College.
The Honors Faculty Fellows Program is a one-year fellowship that will facilitate their involvement with honors students and enhance the UAB Honors College community. They will offer non-credit bearing lectures, experiential learning activities, and other programming to provide stimulating academic enrichment opportunities. And they will serve as academic mentors as well as professional and social role models.
Chandler-Laney is program director of the PhD in Nutrition Sciences program as well as an associate scientist in UAB’s Comprehensive Diabetes Center and the Nutrition Obesity Research Center. Her research interests include body composition and metabolic health consequences of intrauterine exposure to gestational diabetes and maternal obesity, understanding how physiology and metabolism impact weight-related behaviors, and developing novel methodology to assess infant meal patterns.
Meese is director of research for the UAB Medicine Office of Wellness and has several years of industry experience that included work in ten countries on four continents, including management for a large academic medical center. Her research interests are wellness, burnout, quality and safety, and delivery models that enhance organizational learning.
In a letter to the new class, Shannon L. Blanton, Ph.D., dean, UAB Honors College, said: “I am so pleased that you will be joining us this year as we seek to provide stimulating academic and enrichment experiences and cultivate a strong sense of support and belonging for all of our honors students. The selection committee was very excited about your fellowship proposal, and we look forward to the pivotal role you will play this year in enhancing the intellectual vibrancy of the honors experience at UAB.”
For their service, each Honors Faculty Fellow has a budget of up to $2,000 to spend on honors enrichment programming. They also receive a $2,000 stipend awarded at the end of the fellowship year. In addition they will attend an Honors College Retreat for new students in August – depending on reentry and social distancing requirements – and the Honors College Medallion Ceremony (for graduates) set for April 2021.
