{"id":1312,"date":"2021-09-30T12:04:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T16:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/its-cuthemedev1.carleton.ca\/foodscience\/?post_type=cu_people&p=1312"},"modified":"2025-08-20T10:54:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:54:13","slug":"karen-c-f","status":"publish","type":"cu_people","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/people\/karen-c-f\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen C.F."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \n \n \n <\/h1>\n\n \n <\/header>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bachelor of Science Honours, Major in Food Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-op Placement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CFIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Communications Officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your title, role, and host organization?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I completed my last two work terms with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in the Strategic Communications Division as a Junior Communications Officer. As a junior officer, I supported the senior communications advisors. I drafted communications products such as media lines, newsletters and social media content. As a science communicator, I worked with subject matter experts to provide accurate information using plain language to non-scientific audiences. Each project I worked on supported the Agency\u2019s mandate to safeguard Canada\u2019s food, animals and plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is your placement related to your field of study? Did any course(s) prepare you for this placement?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a communicator, I prepared social media content and answered public enquiries on technical topics for non-scientific audiences. Before my placement, I completed various assignments including infographics, presentations and briefing notes in various courses. These gave me the skills to communicate scientific information to non-scientific audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is your placement impacting your future career goals and overall awareness of the job market in Food Science?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After completing my placement in communications, I realized that although I\u2019m in a science program there are many opportunities for a career outside a research lab. In this placement, I\u2019ve gained insight into the work done at the CFIA beyond the Communications Branch. As I continue my studies, I see myself working towards a career in the government where I can make a significant contribution to the health of Canadians and our natural environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have you grown professionally through your placement?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This placement has given me the opportunity to grow professionally by developing my writing and interpersonal skills. I gained experience working in a team as well as in collaboration with multiple departments. These are valuable transferable skills that can be used both in future studies and any workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any advice for junior students in Food Science?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My advice to junior students in Food Science would be to be open to any opportunity that is available to you. This co-op experience opened up many career options I had not considered before. I have also made important connections and grown my professional network. Any opportunity you have to network is an important and can help you reach future career goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1307,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cu_people_first_name":"Karen","cu_people_last_name":"C.F.","cu_people_initials":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_people_type":[29],"cu_people_expertise":[],"class_list":["post-1312","cu_people","type-cu_people","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_people_type-co-op"],"acf":{"cu_people_job_title":"Junior Communications Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency ","cu_people_degree":"","cu_building":"","cu_people_office_num":"","cu_people_pronoun":"","cu_people_designation":"","cu_people_email":"","cu_people_phone":"","cu_people_phone_ext":"","cu_people_linkedin":"","cu_people_bluesky":"","cu_people_twitter":"","cu_people_instagram":"","cu_people_facebook":"","cu_people_website":"","cu_people_orcid":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/1312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_people"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/1312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2261,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people\/1312\/revisions\/2261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_people_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people_type?post=1312"},{"taxonomy":"cu_people_expertise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/foodscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_people_expertise?post=1312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}