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K-State Today

November 17, 2011

Human ecology professors present at international conferences

Submitted by Jane Marshall

Edgar Chambers IV, distinguished professor of human nutrition and director of the Sensory Analysis Center, presented a paper titled "Acceptance Characteristics of Pomegranate Juice for Four Countries: Spain, United States, Estonia and Thailand” at the second World Congress on Pomegranates in Madrid, in October. The research was the result of collaborative work with sensory analysis partners in Asia and Europe.

Chambers and Delores Chambers, associate professor of human nutrition and director of the Sensory Analysis Center, recently presented keynote addresses at the International Conference on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods in Kosice, Slovakia. Both papers addressed the issue of consumer perception of benefits of functional food ingredients. Delores Chambers's paper showed that when you try to convince people to use a functional ingredient they don't know and don't understand there is no change in acceptance of products. Edgar Chambers’s presentation showed that when you start with consumers choosing the benefits they want and you build those benefits into products, you can increase interest in functional foods.

Elaine Johannes, associate professor in the School of Family Studies and Human Services, gave a presentation on "Distance Education for Youth Workers: The Great Plains-IDEA Alliance of Universities in the United States" at the International History of Youth and Community Work conference in Barnlsey, United Kingdom, in October. Her presentation was an overview of the land-grant university system and youth development degree-earning programs in the U.S. with special emphasis on the Great Plains-IDEA network. It was motivated by the growing acknowledgment that universities and non-governmental organizations need to use distance education to reach current and future youth workers who must navigate global youth issues, she said. While in England she met with University of Winchester faculty and administrators in the department of child, youth and community services to establish study-abroad and cooperative teaching agreements.