Dr. Michelle "Shelley" McGuire is Director of and Professor of Nutrition in the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho. A maternal/infant nutritionist, Shelley’s research focuses on understanding factors influencing human milk composition and how breastfeeding impacts both maternal and infant health. Internationally recognized for her interdisciplinary team-science approach and attention to detail, Shelley and her team have conducted research around the globe to study milk composition and factors associated with its variation. During the COVID-19 epidemic, she headed a team that studied the impact of maternal infection on milk composition – including the presence/absence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Her findings informed international guidance for breastfeeding women and their families during this challenging time. Dr. McGuire’s research has been funded by a variety of public and private entities including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A recipient of the American Society for Nutrition’s Excellence in Nutrition Education award, Dr. McGuire has been teaching basic nutrition for decades and has a strong appreciation of the course, its goals and objectives, and the broad variance of student needs. This experience coupled with her strong writing and research background has helped her create an exceptionally up-to-date and refreshing text for the introductory nutrition course. Dr. Kathy Beerman is a faculty member and Professor of Nutrition in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. She is the author of several published articles assessing the impact of bioactive components in soy (isoflavones) on health parameters in menopausal women. More recently, she has been studying the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in rural, impoverished regions of Guatemala, and the efficacy of a novel approach to improving iron status in these regions. Dr. Beerman teaches the 300-level nutrition course for health-related majors (Nutrition, Health, and Disease), as well as courses related to women's health (Biology of Women). She also teaches a course in teaching methodology (Teaching Methods in Higher Education) for graduate students. Since joining the faculty at Washington State University in 1989, she has taught more than 14,000 students and has been the recipient of several college and university teaching awards. In 2017, Dr. Beerman received the Outstanding Achievement Award in International Activities for her work in Guatemala and in 2018 was awarded the President’s Award for Leadership. Dr. Beerman's years of teaching experience, combined with her wide knowledge base in human nutrition and educational pedagogy, has helped create this innovative introductory nutrition text.
