Ateneans present research on top-performing locales for nutrition in international symposium

Former and current students from the Ateneo de Manila University presented in the 8th Asian Undergraduate Research Symposium (AURS) hosted by The International Academic Forum.

The AURS gives undergraduate students the opportunity to join other engaged undergraduates in an international and interdisciplinary course that aims to enhance their oral communication skills  through a series of online seminars and activities.

Last January 9, management engineering alumni Angelika Gultia (BS ME ’22), John Lee (BS ME ’22), and Samantha Ricafort (BS ME ’22), together with legal management senior Liezel Brito, did a poster presentation for their research piece entitled “An Assessment of Top-Performing Locales in Nutrition Using the Collective Impact Framework.” Gultia, Lee, and Ricafort conducted their research with Brito during their final semester of study as undergraduates.

Gultia, Lee, Ricafort, and Brito performed a thematic analysis of the National Nutrition Council’s compendium of nutrition action initiatives by local government units. They identified the mayor’s leadership, nutrition officers’ leadership, benchmarking, structural systems, intersectoral mobilization, program design, and legislative support as key themes for LGUs with exemplar nutritional programs.

Looking back at the poster presentation experience, Lee said that “joining such a conference allowed me to carry forward the voices of Filipinos and our shared battle against undernutrition to the global stage, where our experience is heard, appreciated, and known.”

For Gultia, “it is one thing to discover insights about nutrition and local governance and another to be given the opportunity to share this with others.” She adds that “our research made me realize that the spirit of nation building should not reside simply in the act of service but also in the knowledge-enriching pursuit for better Filipino servanthood.”

The virtual presentation and research poster of the team can be found on this page.