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Yingying Zhang


Position/Title: MSc Student
email: zhang38@uoguelph.ca
Phone:
Office: N/A

LinkedIn site link
LinkedIn

Education 

  1. First-class Honours, Bachelor of Science in Applied Human Nutrition in Dietetics (2017-2021, Mount Saint Vincent University) 
  2. Master of Science in Animal Biosciences in Animal Nutrition (Present, University of Guelph)

Research Experience 

  • Research Assistant (Sep 2021–Present, MSVU): Preparing stakeholder meetings, actively involving in ongoing research administration, and assisting Dr. Shannan Grant and Dr. Phillip Joy
  • Honours Thesis (May 2021–Sep 2021, MSVU): Explored the knowledge, perception, and experience of and interest in Canadian nutrition and foods students and graduates in simulated learning in the university and practicum settings using a web-based questionnaire under the supervision of Dr. Shannan Grant
  • CN Research Internship (Apr 2021–Aug 2021, MSVU): Received JBI systematic review training and conducted two JBI scoping reviews (pending publication), one investigated nutritional resources available for people living with HIV and AIDS in Canada and the other one mapped literatures assessing knowledge, perception, and experience of and interest in Canadian nutrition and foods students and graduates in simulated learning.  
  • Research Assistant (Apr 2020–Aug 2020, Peking University Health Science Center): Investigated the effects of probiotics on the gut microbiome and the management of Type II diabetes mellitus by using 16S rRNA, Metagenomics, ELISA, and Western Blot in a clinical setting under the direction of Dr. Heqing Tao. 

Animal-related Experience 

  • Animal Caretaker (Sep 2020–Apr 2021, SPCA Halifax): Assisted employees with multiple animal care tasks, such as feeding animals, changing litterbox, washing blankets, etc. 
  • Administrative Assistant (Jan 2019–Aug 2019, Dairy farm): Supported dietitians from Dairy Farmers of Canada to provide nutrition education sessions for visitors and assisted employees with animal care (adult cows and weaned calves) in a family-operated dairy farm. 

Biography 

My passion for animals and nutrition has aspired me to become a veterinarian nutritionist one day and led me to the University of Guelph. My unique background in dietetics have equipped me with a solid foundation of nutrition and metabolism and made me realized the significant role it plays in maintaining animal health and wellbeing, and later sparked me to further my education in animal nutrition. 

Continuing my keen interest into MSc by coursework with a specialization in companion animal nutrition under the supervision of Dr. Anna Kate Shoveller, my aim is to gain more scientific knowledge and to accumulate more animal-related experience, which I believe would facilitate my future career. I will help mainly two projects during my time here, one project is to get a formulation spreadsheet publicly available on a global basis along with Julia Guazzelli Pezzali, and the other project is to look at digestibility of pulse ingredients after they have been pre-enzymatically treated in dogs. 

In my spare time, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my family and friends, and finding new places to hike with my dog, a Japanese Akita named Antimony.