Article by Kelly Weaver and Maya Wasik.
This year, to celebrate International Women’s Day, UNC Center for Galapagos Studies (CGS) proudly recognizes some of the incredible women who continue to drive community driven public health research and celebrate their legacy of groundbreaking accomplishments. A team of dedicated female researchers from UNC – Chapel Hill and Universidad San Francisco de Quito has been working to advance maternal and child health in the Galapagos, particularly in San Cristóbal, by collaborating with the local community.
Mothers and children in the Galapagos islands face several unique health challenges due to their geographic isolation, including limited access to fresh foods and clean water, social isolation, and a lack of health care services. Consequently, many mothers and children suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, overweight and obesity, infectious illness, and mental health concerns. Efforts to improve maternal and infant health in the Galapagos include enhancing healthcare services, providing better nutritional support, and addressing mental health. This team has been emphasizing supporting breastfeeding to improve cardiometabolic health, by working to identify the local barriers to breastfeeding practices among women in the region and collaborating with the community to co-design sustainable programs that support parents in making key dietary changes.
Peggy Bentley, a retired distinguished professor at UNC’s Department of Nutrition, dedicated years of her career to advance public health and specifically maternal and child health in the Galapagos. Bentley was instrumental in establishing human health initiatives at the Galapagos Science Center in 2011 – a monumental effort that continues to have far-reaching impacts. Bentley’s commitment to this critical research in Galapagos and globally over the years has led now to a thriving global team of women researchers, including Amanda Thompson, Heather Wasser, Ivonne Headley, and Belén Ocampo.
“One of the key drivers to the success of this group and their research has been their commitment to mentorship,” said Thompson, Director of UNC Center for Galapagos Studies. “While mentorship has always played a pivotal role in the development of students and researchers, this group has created a multi-generational legacy of knowledge-sharing and support that spans decades, leading to better outcomes for the communities in which they serve.”
Heather Wasser, an Assistant Professor in UNC’s Department of Nutrition, was one of Bentley’s Ph.D. advisees and a close collaborator on research projects. Wasser’s research initially focused on domestic families, trying to better understand determinants of infant diet and designing family-based programs to improve nutrition habits among families with young children. However, having Bentley as an advisor and mentor meant that Wasser was naturally exposed to global research. Over time, this led to Wasser’s interest in expanding her research to Galapagos, in turn receiving a Galapagos seed grant in 2024 from UNC Center for Galapagos Studies and currently conducting ongoing research on the islands with her own team.
“Peggy was an exceptional mentor, always encouraging me to move beyond my comfortable boundaries, both in a literal, geographic sense, as well as intellectually and professionally,” said Wasser. “Her magic was seeing in me things I didn’t yet see in myself all while managing this careful balance of pushing and encouraging without overwhelming me. I would not be where I am today without her mentorship and now enduring friendship.”
Wasser now takes her role as a mentor very seriously, having mentored over 30 undergraduate and master’s students in the Department of Nutrition, and hopes to be as inspiring as a mentor as Bentley. In fact, Wasser and Bentley were able to co-mentor a rising researcher back in 2015, Belén Ocampo. Ocampo, originally from Quito and now a professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, was at UNC pursuing her Master’s in Public Health in Nutrition and Dietetics.
“I met Peggy (Bentley) many years ago, when I was an undergraduate student, and she was key in my pursuit of my MPH degree,” says Ocampo. “While at UNC, she always supported me in pursuing my interests and helping me discover my passion for public health nutrition. Both Heather (Wasser) and Peggy have been role models for how to guide my own students in pursuing their interests, and to help shape the best possible professionals,” Ocampo reflected.
Wasser’s journey as a mentor continues, and she is currently advising her first doctoral student, Ivonne Headley, which Wasser describes as being “a joy to mentor.” Headley, who previously served as a Peace Corps Community Health Volunteer in Manabí, Ecuador from 2018-2020 is thrilled to now be pursuing her PhD at UNC under the guidance of Wasser, and to have the opportunity to conduct research in the Galapagos.
Now, ten years later, Wasser and Ocampo have evolved from the mentor and mentee relationship to now be research collaborators, designing research in Galapagos together as part of Wasser’s newly awarded seed grant.
On her journey to pursue her PhD, it was a connection to Ocampo for a culminating Registered Dietitian (RD) practicum experience that really secured Headley’s interest in returning to Ecuador for future research. “Knowing Ivonne wanted a career focused on improving maternal and child nutrition in Latin America, and that she had previously worked for the Peace Corp in a rural, coastal area in Ecuador, I connected her with Belén (Ocampo), and she subsequently completed her practicum experience under co-mentorship with me and Belén, spending ~12 weeks in Quito and at Universidad San Francisco de Quito,” said Wasser.
As an RD who is pursuing her certification as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Headley is now working alongside Wasser to promote exclusive breastfeeding as a key prevention and treatment strategy for cardiometabolic health throughout the life cycle.
Headley believes that lactation is a powerful tool in the women’s empowerment toolbox, and that many women want to breastfeed but simply lack the support and knowledge. Working in a space dedicated to promoting exclusive breastfeeding has provided Headley with a tangible way to further women’s empowerment, a mission her advisor and mentor, Wasser, has strongly encouraged.
“It’s so great to have a cheerleader in your corner,” said Headley. “I see myself in her now, and in the future me as well.”
“This is why I love mentoring. None of us can do great work in isolation,” says Wasser. “What a gift to have a job that aims to help parents and caregivers feed themselves and their babies nutritiously and with confidence. Moms (in Galapagos) are telling us the programs they want and how they want them. And none of this would be possible if I hadn’t first met Peggy, who mentored me, who co-mentored Belén with me, and who is indirectly mentoring Ivonne. It’s a beautiful family tree of research.”
