About the Team

Dr. Dipti Dev

Principal Investigator

Dr. Dipti Dev is currently an associate professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) since January 2014. She is also an Extension Specialist for Child Health Behaviors. She completed her Ph.D. studies in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Dev has been working with childcare providers for 12 years to understand their needs and challenges for using nutrition-related best practices with children in their care.

Email: ddev2@unl.edu
Phone: 402-472-7295

Kayla Hinrichs

Kayla Hinrichs is a Food, Nutrition & Health Educator for Nebraska Extension. She serves Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Loup, Sherman, Valley and Webster Counties with some statewide responsibilities. Through her work, Kayla hopes to inspire others to plan, create, cook and enjoy healthy food. Kayla is passionate about family mealtime and gathering together, and is excited to share this website to help families create memorable mealtimes they will cherish.

Email: khrinrichs3@unl.edu
Phone: 308-728-5071

Hannah Guenther

Hannah Guenther is an Extension Educator working with food and nutrition-related issues in eastern Nebraska. Her programs focus on research-based, accessible nutrition information that can easily be transferred into community homes and kitchens.

Email: hannah.guenther@unl.edu

Lynn DeVries

Lynn DeVries is a Learning Child Educator with Nebraska Extension who specializes in mindfulness and social-emotional learning for childcare professionals and families. Lynn serves Adams, Hall, Howard, Valley, Sherman, Greeley, Clay, Webster, Franklin, Kearney and Buffalo counties in Nebraska.

Email: lynn.devries@unl.edu
Phone: 402-461-7209

Dr. Lisa Franzen-Castle

Dr. Lisa Franzen-Castle is an Associate Professor and Extension Nutrition Specialist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences. Her duties are divided 75 percent to Extension and 25 percent to research.

Email: lfranzen2@unl.edu

Jasmin Smith: Project Manager

Jasmin Smith is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s studies in Developmental Psychology. Jasmin’s research focus is mealtime emotional climate and how it correlates with children’s health and developmental outcomes.

Email: jasmith@huskers.unl.edu

Rachel Maloy: Project Manager

Rachel is a graduate student and dietetic intern at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She serves as the project manager for the EAT Family Style Dining program as well as the EAT Family Style @ Home program. Her passion lies in making mealtimes more nutritious and enjoyable for everyone involved by supporting families and child care providers in learning about responsive feeding practices.

Email: rmaloy@huskers.unl.edu

Aramara Quintos Tapia

Aramara is a senior undergraduate Advertising and Public Relations student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her role at EAT Family Style @ Home is that of the social media assistant and has been on the team since September of 2020. She hopes that her position can make helpful resources that EAT Family Style @ Home provides more accessible to families through the digital world.

Alexandra Lundquist

Alexandra Lundquist is currently a doctoral student in the Division of Nutritional Sciences with concurrent enrollment in the Didactic Program in Dietetics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on supporting positive nutrition environments in childcare settings, including examining childcare providers’ use of responsive feeding practices with infants and support for breastfeeding.

Email: Lundqui2@illinois.edu

Alise Verhage

Alise is an Extension Assistant and Registered Dietitian with the UNL Nutrition Education Program in Adams County. She specializes in teaching limited resource youth and adults about healthy lifestyles (MyPlate, physical activity, meal planning, food safety, etc.), and promoting positive health behavior changes. Alise is also a NAP SACC trainer and EAT Family Style coach, providing support in the area of nutrition and health to child care providers.

Email: alise.verhage@unl.edu
Phone: 402-461-7209

Ranae Aspen

Ranae is an Extension Associate for SNAP Ed program in Buffalo County. She provides basic nutrition for low-income families. She provides the NAP SACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment) for Child Care program for local home based and center based childcare providers. Programs are provided in both English and Spanish.

Email: ranae.aspen@unl.edu
Phone: 308-236-1235

Emily Hulse

Emily is a Community Program Coordinator for the Children’s Center for the Child & Community. Since 2011, Emily has worked with Early Care and Education Programs across Nebraska helping them reach their goals to create a healthier nutrition and physical environment. She loves seeing how these positive changes have such a wonderful impact on the children, staff, and families the program serves; it’s SO rewarding!

Email: ehulse@childrensomaha.org
Phone: 402-955-6887

Erin Kampbell

Erin Kampbell is an Extension Educator with The Learning Child team. She is located in Dawes County and serves Sioux, Dawes, Box Butte, Sheridan, Cherry, Grant, Hooker, Thomas, and Blaine counties.

Email: ekampbell7@unl.edu
Phone: 308-432-3373

Jaci Foged

Jaci Foged is a Learning Child Educator with Nebraska Extension. Jaci is dedicated to providing research-informed coaching and training to parents and childcare professionals working with children birth to 8 years of age. Jaci serves Lancaster, Cass and Otoe counties.

Email: jaci.foged@unl.edu

LaDonna Werth

LaDonna is an Extension Educator on The Learning Child Team, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Extension serving North Central counties. LaDonna focuses on early childhood development and works with schools, teachers, early care and education providers, and families in rural areas of Nebraska. Her team is known for the Fit and Healthy Kids series for early childhood professionals. LaDonna loves living the rural life with her family in O’Neill and spending quality time in the warm summer sun on the Missouri River.

Email: ladonna.werth@unl.edu
Phone: 402-336-2760

Tasha Wulf

Tasha Wulf is a Learning Child Educator with Nebraska Extension. Tasha provides coaching and educational programs to families and childcare professionals in southwest Nebraska. Tasha is in Red Willow county and serves Chase, Dundy, Hayes, Hitchcock, Frontier, Gosper, Furnas, Phelps, and Harlan counties. Tasha is temporarily assisting Arthur, McPherson, Logan, Custer, Keith, Perkins, Lincoln, and Dawson counties as needed.

Email: tasha.wulf@unl.edu
Phone: 308-345-3390

Linda Reddish

Linda Reddish is a Learning Child Educator Nebraska Extension who specializes in interdisciplinary professional development collaboration and co-parenting education. Linda serves the entire state of Nebraska with a focus on online engagement.

Email: linda.reddish@unl.edu

Audra Losey

Audra promotes healthy eating and physical activity in youth and adults by teaching basic nutrition, food preparation and the importance of energy balance to families with limited resources through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed). In addition to providing direct education to families, she delivers professional development to child care providers in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, breastfeeding and infant feeding. The training aim is to prevent childhood obesity by implementing best practices and policies that support healthy eating and physical activity in early childhood settings.

Email: alosey2@unl.edu
Phone: 402-444-1779

Jordan Luxa

Jordan Luxa is a Registered Dietitian and Food, Nutrition & Health Educator for Nebraska Extension. She serves Burt, Dodge, Saunders and Washington Counties.

Email: jordan.luxa@unl.edu
Phone: 402-426-9455

Paige Wernick

Paige Wernick is an Extension Assistant for the Nutrition Education Program with a Learning Child focus. Her background and longtime career in Early Childhood Education allow her to bring a unique perspective when coaching, training, and supporting child care providers. Paige serves Douglas-Sarpy counties, and is excited to work with you!

Email: paige.wernick@unl.edu

Tammie Ostdiek

Tammie Ostdiek is a Food, Nutrition and Health Extension Educator with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She teaches and coordinates programs on nutrition education and health promotion, food safety education, and food access. Tammie serves Morrill, Scotts Bluff, Garden, Deuel, Cheyenne, Kimball and Banner counties.

Email: tostdiek@unl.edu

Beth Nacke

Beth Nacke is an Extension Educator and Registered Dietitian with the Nutrition Education Program serving Colfax, Dodge, Platte, and Saunders counties as well as state-wide school wellness coordination. Her areas of focus are nutrition education for youth and adults, food security and food access, and school wellness. Beth is passionate about improving the health and wellness of low-resource individuals and families through evidence-based nutrition and physical activity education.

Email: bnacke2@unl.edu