Administrative Team

Heidi LeBlanc | Director USU Hunger Solutions Institute

Heidi is the director of the Hunger Solutions Institute (HSI) & Create Better Health Utah (SNAP-Ed) program. After learning about Auburn University's Hunger Solutions Institute she has championed Utah State University to become a HSI university. In the Fall of 2018 the dream became a reality. Her primary focus for HSI is to initiate collaboration and cooperation across disciplines both on campus and off to prevent and end hunger. Her role as director of Create Better Health Utah (SNAP-Ed) fits perfectly under Utah State University’s HSI working to to increase food security and improve the lives of Utahns through a healthy diet and physical activity. Heidi oversees the Utah SNAP-Ed grant plan and contract with the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) and USDA's Food and Nutrition Service Program.

Palak Gupta | Co-Director USU Hunger Solutions Institute

Palak Gupta has spent the last 15 years studying how hunger, poverty, and related factors affect the health status of a community. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Utah State University. Dr. Gupta's passion for working on hunger issues with minorities stems from her living, studying, and serving in both developing and developed nations. Born and raised in India, she has personally seen how living in different zip codes could affect people’s quality of life. She was fortunate to work in various developing countries such as the Philippines, Belize, and India on numerous food security projects. After moving to the United States, she learned about the similarities between hunger issues and their solutions across the globe. She is driven to address these issues and improve the overall health of Utahns.

Lea Palmer | Co-Director USU Hunger Solutions Institute

Lea Palmer is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the Assistant Director for Create Better Health (Utah SNAP-Ed). Lea has focused her career on community nutrition and dietetics, specifically in the world of fighting hunger and nutrition insecurity. She has worked towards this focus in a variety of experiences around the country- from Arizona WIC clinics to women’s postpartum programs in North Dakota, to rural Head Start programs in Native Alaskan Villages, to the SNAP-Ed program and food security council here in Utah. Lea has a passion for helping people feel empowered to live a healthy life that they love. Lea strongly believes that every person has the right to high quality health education and food access in a way that celebrates that person’s culture and individuality.

Mateja Savoie Roskos | Founding Co-Director USU Hunger Solutions Institute

Dr. Mateja Savoie Roskos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science at USU. Mateja teaches a variety of undergraduate courses including: Community Nutrition, Education and Counseling in Dietetics, and Maternal and Child Nutrition. Mateja also teaches several graduate-level courses including Advanced Counseling and Motivational Interviewing for Health Professionals and Hunger Issues and Solutions. Mateja lead a group of faculty in the development of the Hunger and Food Security Studies Minor and assists with Hunger Solutions Institute efforts. When Mateja is not teaching, she is researching nutrition education programming, farmers’ market incentives, gardening interventions for youth, and more.

Cara Murray | Policy, Systems, and Environments Coordinator

Michelle VanFleet | Social Media Coordinator

Michelle is the face behind our social media. She works to highlight and draw attention to the efforts happening across the state. She is also a Create Better Health (Utah SNAP-Ed) social media ambassador; this gives her an inside view of the work happening at the individual level. The highlight of her job is learning about the inspiring efforts made by the programs and individuals which she then shares on our social media.

Jocelin Gibson | Website Content Manager

Jocelin is the content manager for the Hunger Solutions Institute website. She is also the marketer and brand manager for Create Better Health (Utah SNAP-Ed). Jocelin’s responsibilities focus on publicity, brand exposure, and ways to raise hunger awareness. Her role at HSI is especially rewarding because she promotes and publicizes the numerous initiatives seeking to end hunger at the local, state, and global level. Jocelin received her master’s degree in English with an emphasis in Professional and Technical Communication. She is especially interested in information architecture and document design, and how these tools work to persuade and inform others.