After my summer research assistantship with the Lamm Lab in 2022, I had a strong desire to dive further into research about the Healthier Together program. I loved getting to work directly with the Healthier Together communities and I wanted to continue to support the mission of Healthier Together so I decided to apply for the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) program, which aims to support and increase student engagement with undergraduate research opportunities. I was very thankful that I was accepted in the CURO program this semester where I continued research with Healthier Together with Dr. Lamm as my faculty mentor.
For my research project, I worked on a survey distributed to rural Georgia residents regarding purchasing habits related to grab and go coolers, a Healthier Together intervention. The goal of this research was to determine if rural residents would purchase the fruits presented in these coolers when given the choice between the fruit and chips, and why they made the choices they did. We found that even when presented with fruit in the grab and go coolers, residents still tended to purchase the chips. The reasons most stated for this decision included taste and cost. The project results inform future Healthier Together interventions to make them as effective as possible, as well as contribute to the field of knowledge regarding rural resident purchasing habits.
I had the opportunity to present the findings of my research at the CURO symposium at the Classic Center in Athens in March. This was a great learning experience for me and I loved seeing all the research being done by other students at the university.
In reflecting on my time in the Lamm Lab and with CURO, this has been one of the most beneficial experiences I have had at UGA so far. With the help of Dr. Lamm and the rest of the Lamm Lab, I learned how to write and develop an abstract, how to create a research presentation, how to analyze survey data, and what the process of submitting an abstract to conference looks like. I am so grateful to everyone in the lab for all the support and teaching they provided me with, and I know it will help me continue to succeed in the rest of my education and career in research.
Authors: Emily Armstrong, Alexa Lamm, Kristin Gibson, Catherine Sanders
