Jonathan Maillet
Cape Breton Pulse Co. – Maple Bean CocoButter
Sydney, NS
Jonathan developed Maple Bean CocoButter in preparation for the Mission: ImPULSEible food product development competition sponsored by Pulse Canada. Maple Bean CocoButter is a chickpea-based dessert spread that offers consumers an alternate to natural peanut butter and is gluten free. As it is pulse based, this product is a great source of fibre, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
Pulses and pulse-based products are abundant in Canada yet are under consumed. Johnathan believes that people do not know the incredible health benefits that come with consuming pulses. Ideally, he wishes to raise awareness to consumers surrounding pulses and health.
As a recent graduate of the BSc Human Nutrition program, Johnathan will be returning to StFX in the fall to complete a double major in BSc Human Kinetics.
Jonathan intends to further develop the texture of this product to better meet consumer preferences. He also hopes to make connections within the broader food industry and gain valuable insights on how to develop a successful go to market strategy for his company. Business skills developed as part of the Internship will be of great benefit to Johnathan in the future whether starting a company, building a brand, or opening his own private practice.
Heather-Ann Burrell and Amanda Rees
Crackin’ Chickpeas Vegan Egg Alternative
Pickering, ON & Tatamagouche, NS
Heather-Ann and Amanda developed Crackin’ Chickpeas Vegan Egg Alternative as part of the Nutrition Department’s product development class. The pair also entered their product in the Mission: ImPULSEible competition placing second overall. Crackin’ Chickpeas is a pulse based dry mix that, with the addition of water, creates a vegan egg alternative to be used in omelets, scrambled eggs, quiches, and frittatas.
Amanda has attained a Certificate in Business Information Technology from NSCC Springhill. Both Heather and Amanda are entering their final year of Human Nutrition at StFX University.
The pair intend to improve their original product through the completion of additional studies and market research. Heather-Ann and Amanda both hope to expand upon their previous success and explore additional product offerings.
In the future Heather and Amanda plan on taking their product to market to and addressing he lack of vegan egg alternatives available in the market today.
Cat MacIntyre, Kathleen Melanson, and Tarun Porter
THRIVE StFX
So You’ve Made it to University: A Mental Health Survival Guide
Cat, Kathleen, and Tarun are three education students making a difference with help from TeenMentalHealth.org, and their document Transitions. TeenMentalHealth.org is a multidisciplinary team, led by Dr. Stan Kutcher of Dalhousie University, committed to creating and disseminating easy-to-understand mental health information of the highest quality to address the needs of youth, families, educators, health providers, policy makers and others.
Using research developed by TeenMentalHealth.org, the THRIVE StFX team aims to create a collaborative board game for first year university students to help them transition from high school to post-secondary studies. Using the concepts of Mental Health Literacy (MHL) the game hopes to help young people navigate the realities of everyday university life. THRIVE StFX will have players engage in evidence-based best-practice self care and MHL.
THRIVE StFX aims to connect with members of the Residence Life Staff at StFX University to facilitate the implementation of the game and develop data on MHL on campus. Through workshops they intend to further test their game’s design and promote its use in a variety of scenarios. Not only does the development of THRIVE StFX assist those who play it, the widespread play of this new game will also give greater exposure to Mental Health Literacy and promote better understanding of mental illness and self-care strategies on campus and in our community.
“We are interested in taking this project to the next level because we have all struggled, in our own way, to find our paths through university. We all experience common negative emotions, but these can occur with or without the presence of mental illness. A key factor is an individual’s ability to adaptively manage their everyday stressors. We want to provide information and help students learn healthy adaptation and life-skills. We want students to be better able to understand and take care of each other, and take care of themselves” – Cat MacIntrye
Cat MacIntyre is a resident of Antigonish and holds a BA, Joint Advanced Major in Sociology and English. She is now enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program. Since being welcomed into the B.Ed program, Cat has become involved in Service Learning where she was first introduced to Transitions and TeenMentalHealth.org. As she has always had a passion for community development, this experience allowed for Cat to work collaboratively with a group of like-minded individuals, and to think creatively about how best to share information on mental health and wellness. Being a future teacher, Cat believes in advocating for safe spaces for all students and knows that mental health literacy and resources are critical for teachers to help students reach success in life.
Kathleen Melanson is from a small town in New Brunswick. She double majored in English and Psychology at Mount Allison University before spending 5 years teaching English as a second language in Japan. While in Japan Kathleen witnessed a great absence in mental health literacy. Many of her students were struggling and did not have anyone in the school to help. This lack of awareness, understanding, and support stayed at the forefront of her mind when she began her journey in the Education Program at StFX. While mental health literacy is discussed in Canadian schools, a further enrichment of mental health programming. With the help of Transitions, TeenMentalHealth.org, and a great team of fellow Education students she hopes to find a new way of teaching mental health literacy in schools.
Tarun Porter has roots in many places and calls the world her home. In 2015 she completed her BA (French) and BSc (Biology) at the University of New Brunswick. Tarun was inspired by mental health initiatives at UNB and brought this passion with her to StFX where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Education. During her short time at StFX, Tarun has worked alongside the Student Union, Residence Life, and most recently the Transitions team to improve mental health literacy of current students and programming for future students. This work has led to THRIVE StFX, a resource she believes has the potential to help first year students transition to university life and act as a resource that can be adapted for a variety of age groups experiencing transitions. Tarun believes that resources such as THRIVE StFX are instrumental in classroom settings as a way to create safe spaces for students to learn about, and improve, their own mental health literacy.
Hannah Chisholm
Egg-citables
Antigonish, NS
Hannah is entering her 4th year at StFX University completing a Bachelors of Business Administration with a major in Entrepreneurship. She is proud to call Antigonish her home.
After experiencing egg and dairy allergies for many years Hannah witnessed an expansion of the dairy alternative industry with very little innovation addressing egg alternatives. To fill this void, she has developed a plant based egg-substitute aimed at meeting the consumer needs of those with egg allergies or who do not wish to consume products made with animal by-products.
Hannah has had a deep passion for entrepreneurship since high school and views creating a venture a viable career option. She intends on learning more about the food industry, market information, and improved nutritional science information through this internship opportunity.
With the help of the Wallace Family Internship Hannah plans on sharing her recipe for all to enjoy.
