Spotlight on Melanie Rozwadowski

Bio

Melanie Rozwadowski joined the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition in 1998 as an assistant professor in the Division of Nutrition and Dietetics.  Previously, she earned a B.Sc. in Microbiology; served six years as a laboratory technician in molecular biology labs in Saskatoon, Ottawa, Guelph, and Hamilton; received a B.Ed. (Sec.A.D.) from the University of Saskatchewan; gained experience teaching both high school sciences and community college (Hamilton) chemistry; and earned a M.Sc. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph.  Melanie completed a Community Nutrition Residency with Dr. Berenbaum here in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, achieving her designation as a registered dietitian with the Saskatchewan Dietitians Association. She is also a member of Dietitians of Canada.

Teaching and Service

Each academic year, Melanie teaches three sections of Basic Nutrition (NUTR 120), which involves over 1100 students.  She also teaches Nutrition Through the Life Cycle (NUTR 322); is part of the teaching team for Dr. Berenbaum’s two Professional Practice courses (NUTR 330 and NUTR 430); and provides guest lectures on ‘Nutrigenomics’ and ‘Pathogenesis of Coronary Heart Disease’ for Dr. Phyllis Paterson’s Clinical Nutrition (NUTR 440). 

Melanie has been actively involved with the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning on campus for many years, having co-taught the fellowship course ‘Mentored Teaching’ (GPS 982) to PhD Candidates for seven years, and served as a mentor to graduate students in the ‘Advanced Graduate Professional Skills’ (GPS 974) program.

Melanie frequently provides off-campus nutrition presentations to community or business groups, and regularly provides interviews for television and radio.

Research

As an assistant professor hired for a primarily teaching mandate, Melanie has striven to remain current in the nutrition science research literature, with a particular interest in fields related to chronic disease prevention, specifically the areas of Nutrigenomics, Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD, the Microbiome, as well as research areas relating to early lifecycle (maternal, infant and child) health and nutrition, such as breastfeeding, maternal nutritional influences on the fetus and infant, and food marketing to children. Over the past two decades, she has attended conferences and workshops in all of the above areas, as well as in the research field exploring the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Melanie is a member of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), and presented a poster and a research talk at the STLHE 2017 conference in Halifax on her work designing senior-peer-led, face-to-face discussion groups for the 500-student NUTR 120 courses: 

• Rozwadowski M., Sheikhalzoor N., Hoessler C. (2017). Designing and Implementing Learner-Focused Discussion Groups (DGs) in a Large First-Year Introductory Nutrition Course.  Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE).  Poster Presentation, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Rozwadowski M. (2017). STLHE (2017) Senior-peer-led discussion groups (DGs): Motivating students in a large (500 students) Introductory Nutrition course to engage and learn beyond lecture and grades.  Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE).  Research Presentation, Halifax, Nova Scotia.