FANATIC is an undergraduate research team dedicated to helping college students increase their knowledge of healthy nutritional and exercise habits, both for their immediate future and long-term benefit.

As part of the University of Maryland's Gemstone program, which focuses on building teams of students and developing four-year research projects, we decided to focus our energy on a topic that is near-and-dear to many undergraduates: gaining the dreaded "Freshman 15", and generally failing to eat and exercise well.

So, we developed a website based on expert advice and focus group-tested specifications that, after months of research and web design, became "Feed the Turtle."

While we hope the site is maintained and improved upon as the years pass, we are focusing our efforts primarily on this semester. Our "research" goal is to measure and analyze any change regular visits to Feed the Turtle elicits among the university freshmen we tested at the semester's start, and communicate those findings in a thesis.

However, and just as importantly, we hope to serve as a resource for University of Maryland students, not just those we surveyed. We want to help undergraduates develop healthy routines early in their college career, and we feel that this website can do so.

Who are the FANATICs?

 

Nancy "the Mentor"
Brenowitz, MS, RD ,LD