Harvesting Healthy Habits

Undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to apply for a 9-month experiential learning fellowship. A total of 18 students (12 undergraduate and 6 graduate) from the departments of Nutrition, Health Science, Kinesiology or other health-related field at CSULB will be selected and trained in community-engaged research.

Orientation and training will be provided to selected research fellows to understand the contexts wherein nutrition and health-related decisions and behaviors occur; followed by experiential hands-on learning via community-engaged research, nutrition and gardening health promotion, and data collection and evaluation.

Undergraduate Student Required Qualifications

• CSULB student pursuing a degree in health science, nutrition, and kinesiology or another health-related major;
• Junior or senior standing;
• 18 years or older
• Enrolled in at least 6 units during the 2024-2025 academic year;
• Minimum 3.0 GPA
• Commit to 15 hours per week for 12 months;
• Reliable transportation with ability to travel to various sites in the City of Long Beach;
• Must be able to attend all trainings and project meetings
• Available on some evenings and weekends for intervention activities. 

Graduate Student Required Qualifications

• CSULB student pursuing a master’s degree in public health, kinesiology, nutrition, or other health related field 
• 18 years or older
• Enrolled in at least 6 units during the 2024-2025 academic year;
• Minimum 3.2 GPA;
• Commit to 15 hours per week for 12 months;
• Reliable transportation with ability to travel to various sites in the City of Long Beach;
• Must be able to attend all trainings and project meetings
• Available on some evenings and weekends for intervention activities.

Preference will be given to first-generation educated (parents/legal guardians may not hold a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. university), students with financial need, members of racial/ethnic minority groups, and students with disabilities. Bilingual in English and Spanish preferred. 

Fellowship Activities & Time Commitment

• Fellowship dates: June 3, 2024-May 30, 2025
• Research training with emphasis in nutrition and chronic disease, community-based participatory research, and research ethics;
• Experiential learning with opportunity to develop and/or implement an intervention to improve eating habits and healthy lifestyles;
• Mentorship from faculty and staff;
• Professional development;
• Opportunity to travel to a conference;
• Complete evaluation surveys to assess the effectiveness of the student training program.

Mandatory Orientation & Onboarding:

• June 3-6, 2024, 10am-4pm 
• June 10-12, 2024, 10am-4pm
• June 17-18, 2024, 10am-4pm

Fellowship Benefits

• Enhance student preparedness for graduate school or the workforce;
• Develop leadership and research skills and abilities;
• Engage in a research experience;
• Receive mentorship from faculty and staff;
• Connect with CSULB peers, faculty, and staff; and
• Receive a monthly scholarship stipend and one-time funding to travel to a conference.

Student Application

The complete application package must include: 

• Complete Research Fellow Application on Qualtrics
• Unofficial Transcripts from CSULB
• One (1) letter of recommendation from a current or former instructor, advisor, or supervisor (submitted by the recommender via this Qualtrics link: https://bit.ly/HHHFellowshipRecommendation )
• A Personal Statement (500 words) 
  • Describe your interest in engaging in public health community research. Why are you interested in working with underserved populations in Long Beach?
  • Describe your future education and/or career goals. How would this opportunity contribute to those goals?
  • Describe some of your strengths and areas where you are looking to grow further. 
• Resume (1-page) including college(s) attended, community service/volunteer and work experiences, and extracurricular activities. 

*All documents should be legible and clean copies in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF. No pictures of transcripts.

Application Process:

• Application Review
• Pre-selected candidates will be invited to an interview between April 26^th and April 30^th
• Final selection notifications will be sent by May 3, 2024

Application period has passed