Fueling Performance

Madison Wyatt, M.S., RDN, CHES, joined Oakland University in 2023 as a nutrition/dietetics instructor and sports dietitian. Working with both the School of Health Sciences (SHS) and Athletics, she is spearheading a partnership between the areas, serving students, athletes and the University as a whole.

Wyatt, a lifelong athlete who played soccer during college, earned her bachelor’s degree in dietetics and master’s degree in health education and behavior from the University of Florida. Wyatt was drawn to Oakland University by the idea of working two positions in one — a concept she describes as feeling like being a student athlete again, with both practices and classes to attend. To simultaneously create opportunities for her nutrition/dietetics students in SHS, Wyatt has created a sports dietetics internship to help them gain experience in the field and discover if sports nutrition is an area they would like to pursue.

Wyatt’s first intern, Mary Newton, a transfer student and OU softball player, graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, with a minor in nutrition, in spring 2025. Continuing with her final year of softball, she is pursuing a certificate in biomedical sciences and taking additional courses that will strengthen her future master’s degree while still interning with Wyatt.

Newton’s interest in nutrition was piqued due her personal experiences as a lifelong athlete and her difficulties with her relationship with food during the COVID-19 pandemic. During her junior year of college, a mission trip to Nicaragua solidified Newton’s decision to pursue nutrition. “It was so eye-opening and impactful,” Newton says passionately. “I had that experience where I did struggle with food, and then to see people who struggle with food in a completely different manner — they view food as their source of living and a blessing. It changed my viewpoint and has shaped what I want to do in the future. I would love to help people and I realized I can use food to do so.”

As Wyatt’s intern, Newton assists with stocking the Fueling Station in the OU Weight Room, making sure healthy pre- and post-work-out snacks are available for athletes through food selection, budgeting, inventory management, and placing orders. She also has had the opportunity to observe Wyatt’s individual and group consultations with athletes, teach at the SHS Explorations in Health Careers summer camp, and shadow Wyatt at a West Michigan White Caps game, where Wyatt worked this summer as the sports dietitian for the Michigan minor-league baseball team.

Newton feels well-prepared for her future graduate education and career from her experiences. “It’s so nice to be able to lean back on the things that I’ve learned — writing about my experiences and how they’ve shaped me as an individual,” she says.

Wyatt looks forward to continuing to leverage the internship program in the future, hoping to work with a greater number of students. “For me as a student, it was really hard to get sports nutrition experience,” Wyatt explains. “There aren’t that many opportunities, so it’s good for the students to see what I do but step out of their comfort zone, learn new things and see if it’s something they want to pursue.”

Wyatt encourages students interested in sports nutrition to reach out to professionals in the field and ask how they can help or get involved. “The field is growing but very tight-knit,” Wyatt says, “so building those connections and learning to meet new people can be really helpful.”

Wyatt looks forward to seeing the relationship between Health Sciences and Athletics grow as a part of her work. “There’s a lot of opportunity between Health Sciences and Athletics because of how correlated they are,” Wyatt enthusiastically states. “There’s a huge need for both sides to learn about each other and work together. And sports dietetics as a whole is continuing to grow, so it will be great to see how that continues to progress at a higher level.”

To learn more about Nutrition and Dietetics at Oakland University, visit the School of Health Sciences website.