Rate My Professor Nichola Agnew

Nichola Agnew is a Professional Practice Fellow in the Department of Human Nutrition within the Sciences Division at the University of Otago. In this capacity, she coordinates several undergraduate papers focused on practical applications of nutrition and food systems, including HUNT246 Applied Nutrition, HUNT344 Food and Nutrition in Practice, and HUNT444 Food - Systems, Services and Skills. These courses integrate theoretical knowledge with hands-on experiences to prepare students for careers in nutrition, emphasizing skills such as food safety best practices, recipe and menu evaluation and modification to address nutritional needs, sustainability, cultural influences including Pacific culture and Te Ao Māori, allergens, cost, food trends, and scaling for larger operations. Students develop teamwork, communication, digital marketing, behavior change, business planning, and professionalism competencies relevant to fields like public health and sports nutrition.

HUNT246 bridges the theory-practice gap through cookery techniques, sensory food quality control, and recipe adaptation in domestic settings. HUNT344 features weekly lectures and practicals leading to a culturally themed Food Truck event using the Taraka Kai food truck, student-led healthy cooking classes, and on-site vegetable gardens for sustainability and food security education. HUNT444 provides advanced study of foodservice theory, applying the foodservice systems model, financial and quality management tools, and team-based food truck projects to meet consumer needs. As practicals coordinator, Agnew oversees student food truck operations that pair tasty fare with healthy eating advice, such as quick, cheap, nutritious meals for school visits. She contributed to the vision for collaborative campus gardens demonstrating garden-to-plate processes, supporting cooking classes, supplying the food truck, and providing fresh produce to promote healthy habits and affordability, in partnership with the Sustainability Office and Pacific Islands Centre. Agnew also supported the Feed My Flat initiative, creating student food bags to shape future nutritional behaviors based on common flat cooking challenges.