Checkna Diawara

Checkna Diawara joined the Global Food Research Program for the 2023 FERN fellowship between his third and fourth years at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he majors in nutrition with a minor in food studies. He is continuing his work with GFRP this year, helping Lindsey Smith Taillie and her team with research on environmental nudges to reduce food waste. Checkna is interested in researching nutrition policy, international food systems, and global health. During previous summers, he has worked on projects examining the relationship between food insecurity and obesity among pediatric patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosted two food drives for food-insecure cancer patients, and worked on a nutritional summer newsletter for his local hospital. Checkna’s interests and experiences have driven him to further explore nutrition and global health research.

My go-to comfort food is… baked mac and cheese with chicken.

The craziest thing I’ve ever eaten is… baked rabbit’s foot!

My favorite foods in summer are… mangoes or dried apricot.

When I’m in a time crunch, I love to make… Love Crunch granola bowls with Greek yogurt and bananas.