Samantha Coogan

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Program Director, Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics

Senior Lecturer, Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences

Expertise: Diet, Human nutrition, Food science, Lifecycle nutrition, Community nutrition, Food & ethnic issues

Biography

Samantha Coogan is a senior lecturer within the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, and serves as the Program Director for the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (DPND). She has been licensed in Nevada as a registered dietitian nutritionist since 2014.

Coogan teaches human nutrition, sports nutrition, nutrition, health and ethnic issues, nutrition assessment, and medical nutrition therapy (MNT) within the B.S. in Nutrition Sciences undergraduate program. She has also taught in the areas of food science, lifecycle nutrition, and community nutrition.

Coogan is a fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is a past president of the Nevada Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (NvAND), and is an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Nevada Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Nutrition and Dietetic Educators and Preceptors practice group.

In 2019, she won the Nevada Emerging Dietetic Leader of the Year Award, and was then featured in the Opening Session of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) 2019 for her role as program director and passion for creating confidence in her students to become future leaders of the profession.

Coogan was later the 2023 Nevada Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year (RYDY) recipient for her contributions to the Las Vegas community, leadership in education and career guidance, and participation in the dietetics profession at the state and national levels.

She is frequently called upon by national media including Healthline, Sports Illustrated, Women's Health Magazine, and Wallethub.

Education

M.S., Exercise Physiology, UNLV
B.S., Nutrition Sciences, UNLV

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Samantha Coogan In The News

Wise & Well

Stranded on a desert island, I could live off nothing but bread, bananas and broccoli. That’s what I say, anyway. My wife scoffs. What about protein? Hmm, beans, I suppose, sticking stubbornly to my B-inspired list. But I’m no nutritionist. And like many people, I’m often confused by the competing and conflicting claims about what we should eat.

Peloton

You don’t need to be deep in the fitness world to have run into the idea that cardio “kills” muscle gains—as if every cycling class and or 3-mile run sends a little army of molecules through your body to chomp away at hard-earned muscle tissue. While it’s an entertaining image and a potentially convincing theory, the reality is that it’s not exactly true.

When it comes to healthy eating, you have the basics down. You fill your grocery cart with whole-wheat bread, chicken breasts, fresh veggies and berries. While these are all nutritious staples, you may be missing out on other good-for-you foods.

Real Simple

By the time late afternoon rolls around, so does that lethargic and unproductive sensation you’ve worked all day to avoid. The feeling is more commonly known as a ‘midday slump,’ or the dip in energy we experience halfway through the day. It’s easy to wonder if afternoon slumps show up like clockwork, but it’s actually the food we eat that helps drive (or curtail) our energy levels. That means there's a solution.