Meet Summer Scholar Larisa Morales Soto

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to high-achieving students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Larisa Morales Soto, below, is working with Dr Beatrix Jones on a project exploring how the dietary patterns of New Zealand children change during their childhood and the transition to adolescence. 

Unlike most of the Department of Statistics’ summer scholars, Larisa isn’t studying locally. Summer scholarship are open to anyone tertiary student who is appropriately qualified, and Larisa, who is in her third year studying genomic science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico at Morelos in south central Mexico, leapt at the chance to gain new experiences overseas.

“What first motivated my search is that this time of the year would be winter in the northern hemisphere, and research internship programs are not very common in this season,” says Larisa, whose study combines biology, computer science and statistics to answer questions in life sciences.

“What finally brought me to New Zealand was the high academic quality and international presence of The University of Auckland. Also, the summer programme would give me the chance to visit the country and get completely immersed in the culture, something I wouldn’t have been able to do without the scholarship.”

The work she is doing looks at how the overall dietary patterns of New Zealand kids change during their childhood and the transition to adolescence. “During early life stages, children’s parents determine their food intake,” she explains, “but as they grow up, they start making decisions on which foods they want to eat, and their previous diet and other external factors can influence this decision-making process.”

The research hopes to shed light on the complex relationship between diet, health and disease during an individual’s lifespan, understanding how different factors help to establish dietary patterns.

Being in New Zealand has brought Larisa personal and academic benefits: “This experience is having a huge impact on my professional training. But also, I feel that it’s making me grow on the personal level as well, because being alone and very far from my home country is a big step. Being here has changed the perspective I had of New Zealand – I’ve been able to see the greatness of the country in terms of natural resources, social culture, economy and politics.”

In her down time, Larisa has been using the university sports and recreation centre and the library, as well as visiting parks, museums and other attractions in the city and Hauraki Gulf. She also fitted in a quick trip to the South Island with a friend she made here.

This won’t be the last we see of her, says Larisa: “I am definitely coming back in the future.”

• For general information on University of Auckland summer scholarships, click here.