CWU McNair Scholar seeks to make a difference with nutrition research

A few years ago, Alyssa Castilla wasn’t even sure she would graduate from high school. Today, the senior anthropology major at Central Washington University has her sights set on earning a PhD.

All she needed was someone to believe in her. As it turned out, there were more people in her corner than she realized.

“I wasn’t doing very well my first three years at Davis High School, so I decided to transfer to Yakima Online for my junior year,” said Castilla, a McNair Scholar and Douglas Honors College student. “My grades improved significantly, and the principal, Lois Menard, later offered me a job. I was like, ‘Are you talking to me?’”

Menard felt Castilla would be a natural fit as an online educator because she had already been successful as a student in the program. She started out as a substitute in 2022 and was soon offered a long-term position. It didn't take her long to see that she was the ideal candidate.

“My own experiences helped me understand what other students were going through,” Castilla said.

Castilla enrolled at Yakima Valley College in 2021 and completed her associate degree before transferring to CWU in the fall of 2023. She attended classes part-time and continued to work at Yakima Online before moving to Ellensburg for the 2024-25 academic year.

That fall, she met with Anthropology Professor Patrick Lubinski, who encouraged her to apply for the McNair Scholars program. The U.S. Department of Education-funded program helps first-generation students and those from underrepresented backgrounds pursue graduate degrees and careers in higher education.

“I shared my interest in pursuing an undergraduate thesis with Dr. Lubinski and he encouraged me to apply,” Castilla said. “Then I met with Pam Nevar (the late director of CWU’s McNair Scholars program) and she went over all of the details about the program. Pam was really instrumental, and those conversations turned out to be the push I needed to apply.”

Castilla is now in her second year of the McNair program, following her interest to understand how individual, cultural, and structural factors interact to shape food choices and contribute to health risks among underrepresented populations.

Over the past 18 months, Castilla has been conducting her research alongside Professors Nicole Stendell-Hollis and Tafere Belay, and fellow graduate student Lupita Silva-Garcia, while receiving support from the Produce Rx Program and a local food bank.

“I want to understand how to center community knowledge and experiences in food assistance programs so we can increase access and reduce barriers for vulnerable populations,” said Castilla, who’s also working toward a minor in nutrition. “I have been working with Anthropology Professor Hope Amason and a local food bank as I work on my thesis, and I’m really proud of the progress we have made together.”

As a result of her influential research, Castilla was invited to the American Society for Microbiology’s annual ABRCMS Conference in San Antonio, Texas, to do a poster presentation. She joined about 6,800 professionals and aspiring scientists from November 19-22 to showcase her work, and she came away from the conference with a newfound confidence in herself.

Castilla explained that the classes and workshops she had participated in through the McNair program helped her prepare for such a big stage. The connections she has made since arriving at CWU have given her many opportunities to exchange feedback with her peers across different disciplines. However, presenting at ABRCMS still made her feel nervous.

“I definitely felt pressure to prove that I belonged, and being surrounded by so many people felt intimidating at first,” said Castilla, whose research is being funded by the McNair Scholars program. “But once I reminded myself that we were all students working toward the same goal, I was able to let go and enjoy all of the workshops, poster sessions, and the grad fair.”

Castilla’s poster presentation focused on a produce prescription program aimed at improving fruit and vegetable intake, health outcomes, and reducing healthcare costs in a rural community by providing subsidized community supported agriculture shares for individuals who receive Medicaid.

She analyzed the data for the second year of the program and prepared a research paper about the study alongside Stendell-Hollis, Belay, Silva-Garcia, and Deborah Gauck. The team expects the paper to be published soon.

“I am also preparing to conduct research for my undergraduate thesis, which will center around my interests in food security, food choice, and culture,” Castilla said.

Meanwhile, she is working on her Institutional Review Board (IRB) application and plans to finish writing her thesis by the time she graduates this spring.

As Castilla considers the next steps in her education, she’s looking for programs that will allow her to continue pursuing her passion for producing research that advances prevention-focused, equity-oriented approaches, and informs policies designed to better support communities that face systemic inequalities. 

Castilla is leaning toward pursuing a graduate degree in medical anthropology and public health, primarily focusing on ethnographic research.

“I love everything I’m doing right now, and I’m excited to keep it going. It doesn’t matter where I go,” she said. “I have learned so much at CWU, and I’m so glad everything has worked out the way it has.”