Mardi Parelman

My name is Mardi Parelman and I'm from Kansas City. More specifically, I am from a Kansas suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. I'm an Associate Professor of Nutrition Science and Lead Faculty of Health Sciences Academic and Career Pathways (https://sdmiramar.edu/pathways/hs) here at San Diego Miramar College and got to become part of the faculty in 2017. I am the Lead Faculty for the Health Sciences Academic and Career Pathway  I am passionate about nutrition, health, and well-being, social justice,

To my tremendous surprise, it turns out that being a nutrition science professor at a community college is my dream job! When I graduated high school, this is not what I imagined for myself. I thought I would be a stage actor who worked probably had to work temp-jobs and wait tables to make ends meet. Life happens, situations change, and I am forever thankful that I had enough energy to go back to school and start on a new path. 

 From childhood until my late 20s, I was interested in theatre performance and hated the study of everything related to math and science. I was on a career path to become an actor. I was also determined to live anywhere other than my lovely hometown of Kansas City. I achieved that goal when I was 19 years old and went off to college in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Northern Michigan University, NMU). 

While  at NMU, I studied theatre performance and English literature.  I avoided math and science as much as much as possible. I earned a B.S. (bachelor of science) in English and Communications & Performance Studies. I  left college without any job-related ambition, prospects, or concept of what jobs were available with my educational background. I ended up working a lot of different jobs (working in the college cafeteria, daycare, preschool teacher, radio announcer, waitstaff on a boat, telemarketer, administrative assistant) to pay my rent and student loans. All the while, I was sick but didn't know why. In fact, I had been told to manage stress and anxiety because I had a "nervous stomach." Really, I had undiagnosed, symptomatic celiac disease.

Once back home with family in Kansas City, I was finally diagnosed with celiac disease (it took 20 years to get diagnosed!) and was forced to learn about nutrition in order to understand what I could eat. At the same time, I was fortunate enough to be working in a children's hospital where doctors, nurses and registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) were available to expose me to career options that I never knew existed. I continued to work  full-time at the hospital and went back to school to take all the math and science courses I previously avoided. It was a lot of hard work, took lots of time, and in the end was entirely worth it. I spent a couple of years as a part-time community college student, full-time employee, sister, daughter, grand daughter, friend, and life-partner before I was ready to apply to graduate school. It was all worth it! 

In the end (or at least as of now!), my education in Nutrition Science:

• master of science (M.S). in Human Nutrition with an emphasis in Dietetics from Kansas State University
• a doctorate (Ph.D.) in Nutritional Biology with an emphasis in Immunology from University of California, Davis. 
• a Certified Integrative Health and Wellness Coach (Duke Integrative Medicine)
• a Qualified Instructor of Mindful Eating (METI). 

My current interests and the focus of my continuing education for 2023-2025 is in areas of integrative and functional nutrition, sports nutrition, and nutrition sustainability and nutrition security and food insecurity.