Student Leadership and Advisory Council 2025-26
The FSN Student Leadership and Advisory Council (SLAC) provides consultation to the faculty on relevant undergraduate and graduate student issues. They are ready to bring your comments and concerns to the department, so stop them in the halls or email any member directly.
Prospective students, do not hesitate to reach out to our students if you have any specific questions.
Click here to view the FSN Student Advisory Committee from 2024-2025
FSN Student Leadership & Advisory Council 2025–2026
Safyia Rufino, Food science/microbiology
Hometown: Oahu, HI
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Reading, hiking, and baking
Favorite thing about CP FSN: Getting the opportunity to be part of so many different clubs, projects and events within the realm of food science. My favorite project was competing and placing top ten in a national competition with the product development team.
Career Goals: My career aspiration is to pursue PhD. in food microbiology or to go into industry focusing on food safety and consumer health either at the FDA or the CDC.
Katja Friess, Food science
Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Rock climbing, crafting, and hosting dinner parties
Favorite thing about CP FSN: The opportunity to get involved in lab research, teaching assistant work, and production as a first-year student or undergraduate!
Career Goals and Interests: After my bachelor's in food science, I hope to pursue a technical Food Science Masters or an MBA. My career interests include product development, procurement, and working with niche Japanese ingredients!
Tessa Murphree, food science/Agribusiness Minor
Hometown: Seal Beach, CA
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Throwing pottery and thrifting
Favorite thing about CP FSN: I love how connected the students are to each other and with the professors because of our smaller department and class sizes.
Lauren Ropacki, Nutrition science
Hometown: Temecula, CA
Year: Junior
Hobbies: Cooking, surfing, shopping, hiking
Favorite thing about CP FSN: I enjoy the close-knit community and student-faculty relationship. Our amazing faculty make it easy for students to get involved and connected within the FSN Department and I appreciate their guidance and support.
Career Goals: Through my time at Cal Poly, it is my goal to combine my knowledge of nutrition with scientific research to create meaningful impacts within the Cal Poly and healthcare community. In the future, I hope to attend medical school, where I aim to use my Nutrition Science background to promote overall patient health and wellness from within and improve patient outcome.
Avery Aguero, Applied Nutrition
Hometown: Corte Madera, CA
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Snowboarding, lifting, climbing, cooking, hiking, tennis
Favorite thing about CP FSN: My favorite thing about CP FSN is how tight knit the community is and how the department focuses on creating curriculum that embodies the “learn by doing” mantra of Cal Poly with interesting culinary labs, metabolism labs, and valuable research opportunities.
Career Goals: After I graduate from Cal Poly SLO, I plan to attend graduate school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Nutrition followed by the Dietetic Internship so that I can eventually become a credentialed RDN. I am very passionate about clinical nutrition, especially nutrition for disease prevention and management and I hope to build my future career in those fields. In the future, I also hope to get involved in more nutrition research opportunities and eventually get my work/contributions published.
Roxy hudson, Applied Nutrition, Minor in Child Development
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Crocheting, jewelry making, drinking matcha, and hanging out at Front Porch
Favorite thing about CP FSN: I love the FSN professors! They have so much shared knowledge and experience from so many different areas of nutrition, and they are so dedicated to helping their students get more involved in the field!
ANgel witron, Applied Nutrition
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Year: Junior
Hobbies: I love playing guitar, singing, meditating and working out!
Favorite thing about CP FSN: My favorite thing at Cal Poly, SLO is the great diversity of place to go for a hike.
Goals: My special short term goals here at Cal poly is to learn Russian to be able to handle challenging conversations and to find internships in the following summers by developer a strong networking.
For my long term goals are to graduate as a nutrition major with a concentration in applied nutrition and to be working in a clinical setting to fulfil my volunteering hours for the ACEND program!
Rachel Preston, Applied Nutrition
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Year: Junior
Hobbies: Ceramics, cooking, and making jewelry
Favorite thing about CP FSN: The opportunity to build meaningful relationships with others in the FSN community, and to apply what I learn to my everyday life in a purposeful and practical way. I also love how involved and hands-on the major is!
Career Goals: My career aspirations include innovations in food technology, product development, and research that enhances the quality, safety, and sustainability of food. I look forward to expanding my interests and experience in varying food science fields!
Zoey buchanan, Applied Nutrition
Hometown: Portland, OR
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Cooking, rock climbing, biking, gardening, and anything outside
Favorite thing about CP FSN: I absolutely love the incredible faculty and the tight-knit community within the department. I always feel seen and supported by professors and am constantly empowered by my peers to grow as a learner and friend!
Career Goals: I am motivated to complete my masters degree and dietetic internship to become a registered dietitian. I am interested in exploring research opportunities and potentially teaching nutrition some day! At the moment, I want to continue exploring rural dietetics, nutrient deficiencies, and food policy.
