Congratulations to Amy Porto PhD, RD, LDN of Mechanicsburg who was was named Outstanding Dietetic Educator from the Pennsylvania Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The Outstanding Dietetic Educator Award recognizes the excellence of educators in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics accredited and approved dietetic education programs.
Porto received her bachelor’s of science degree in biochemistry from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and completed her dietetic internship through Maricopa County Department of Public Health in Tempe, AZ. Porto also holds doctorate degree in Integrative Biosciences with an emphasis on Nutrition Science from Penn State University. Porto has been faculty member at Messiah College for the past fifteen years and currently serves as Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics. Porto accepted the award at the Pennsylvania Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual meeting held on March 29, 2019 in Cranberry Twp, PA. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.
Amy shared, “During my junior year of college as a biochemistry major I learned the details of the metabolic pathways. When I realized I was the only person among my peers who actually enjoyed learning about the Krebs cycle, I knew I was destined to become a RDN.
As a graduate student, I had to privilege to work in the lab of Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton. I hadn’t thought about going into academia but it was Penny who encouraged me consider that path after observing me as her teaching assistant and I am so thankful she did. In my 15 years as a college professor I am now the person who gets to teach the Krebs cycle and hopefully do it in such a way that my students are curious about the science of our profession and inspired to be lifelong learners.
One of the things I love most about being a RDN is that as a nutrition professional I have the opportunity to teach others, both in and out of the classroom, evidenced based nutrition so that they feel confident in their knowledge and can make healthy decisions that are based on science and not on hype.”