Life came full circle for Angela Scheett when her mother called and informed her there was a job opening for a dietitian at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center.

“Grand Forks is my hometown, and when I was in high school, I had the opportunity to do a 10-week internship at the Center the summer between my junior and senior year,” Scheett said. “Flashforward to when the dietitian position opened up—my mother saw the ad in the classifieds of the Grand Forks Herald. She called me and said, ‘There’s a job opening at the nutrition center, put your application in!’ Because I had previous experience there, my parents recognized the wonderful opportunity.”

Working with a team of six in the dietary department, Scheett has many duties that keep her busy. She maintains the nutrient database that is used for menu planning. She also does most diet assessments, which involve asking study participants what they eat when they’re not eating food provided by the Center for a study.

When working on studies, Scheett enjoys obtaining valuable information that scientists need for their research. Meeting people is also one of Scheett’s favorite parts of the job, and human studies certainly give her that opportunity.

“During one study, I was visiting with participants every other week for 15 weeks,” Scheett said. “You get to know them pretty well.”  

Scheett finds sharing her knowledge about health with others rewarding. One study several years ago gave her the opportunity to speak with seventh graders about the food they had eaten the day before.

“I had measuring cups, bowls, glasses, spoons and everything,” Scheett said, smiling. “To figure out serving sizes, the students could point to which bowl was closer to the bowl that they had. It’s a whole different way of getting that information.”

Working with her coworkers also brings Scheett joy, and she highly recommends that others look out for opportunities to work at the Center.

Scheett emphasized the teamwork in her department and the mutual respect found among the specialists at the Center.

“We have a wide variety of specialties, and I learn so much from the variety of people I work with,” Scheett noted. “I enjoy how people respect the expertise of each other. If people have a question about nutrition or diet, they will come to me. If I have questions, I can go to them.”

After building a career of more than 20 years at the Center, Scheett says it’s safe to say she’s home.