Jennifer Noseworthy, an assistant professor in the Division of Natural Sciences at Indiana Wesleyan University, is deeply connected to her community beyond the classroom.
Alongside teaching and mentoring biology students, Nosworthy is the director of the Alliance Garden, a community garden on IWU’s campus.
Upon joining IWU, she saw an opportunity to expand the Alliance Garden’s role in the community.
“What ways can this Alliance Garden serve as a resource to the community? And what I soon learned is that we have a great issue of food insecurity in this community,” Noseworthy said.
She has since taken on multiple roles, from teaching cooking classes to volunteering with food distribution programs.
“I do all kinds of things related to food insecurity,” Noseworthy said. “And then I have had the opportunity to volunteer with an organization called Second Harvest. They bring food to community schools, and I volunteer with my kid’s school.”
Ashley Shirley, director of Thriving Grant County, has worked closely with Noseworthy on community initiatives.
“We partnered quite a bit together with her. She’s very passionate about what she does, and very passionate about the community too,” Shirley said.
Beyond local initiatives, Noseworthy has conducted scientific research on plant and pollinator interactions for the past five years, working with students at Indiana Wesleyan University, the University of Florida and Colorado State University.
Taryn Van Wyngarden, a junior biochemistry major at IWU, participated in Noseworthy’s summer research program, which examines insect populations in urban gardens.
“We work with eight different urban gardens in the area. We collect insects, we identify them so then we can see how the population changes over time,” Van Wyngarden said.
Noseworthy sees all aspects of her work connecting through faith, family and community.
“God calls us to care for the very least of these, to care for the widowed and the ones that are underrepresented,” Noseworthy said. “The way I can do that is providing food security and education to be able to break that cycle.”
Looking ahead, Noseworthy hopes to expand awareness and engagement with the Alliance Garden.
“I think it’s a cool resource. I just want more people to know about it and to make use of it,” Noseworthy said.
Noseworthy has and continues to make a lasting impact on both students and the Marion community through her passions in biology and food insecurity.
