Engage: Pacific Learning Sessions

Learn about UW Dining’s Husky Grind Coffee Education Program – tour our mini-but-mighty café, roasting facility and join us for a coffee cupping – a professional tasting technique to evaluate the coffee quality, flavor and aroma. Perfect for coffee lovers and curious beginners!

Jeremiah Trammell is the Assistant Director of Markets and Coffee Roasting and oversees the Coffee Education program for the University of Washington Dining. He has worked in the coffee industry since 1995, holds Coffee Roasting and Barista certifications, and has been at the UW since 2001, managing cafés and retail markets on campus. He leads the Husky Grind Coffee and Education program, which includes managing a cupping lab, green buying, roasting, training, and café operations. With a focus on traceable micro-lot and smallholder cooperative coffee, the program emphasizes living learning experiences outside of the classroom for student residents. 

This session focuses on strategic marketing and tactics to enhance the student dining experience. Highlighting collaboration between dining operations and the marketing team, Lora and Kelsey will share creative techniques, disclose useful insights to promote engagement, and design an elevated dining experience for our student residents (as well as for the rest of the UW campus community). 

Lora Marini Baker joined University of Washington Housing & Food Services as Director of Marketing & Communications three years ago. She’s new to higher-ed, but not new to leading marketing campaigns and teams. Lora spent most of her career working in the for-profit Broadway industry, managing marketing for touring musicals in seven cities on the west coast. Prior to joining UW, Lora worked for a global non-profit social services organization and managed philanthropy marketing in the Pacific Northwest. A long time ago, Lora lived on campus for four years at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and is still BFFs with two women she met in the dorms.  

Kelsey Hutchinson joined the University of Washington Housing & Food Services in a newly created role in 2024 as a Dining Operations Marketing Specialist. She has extensive marketing experience in hospitality, dining, and destination marketing. Prior to joining UW, Kelsey held operational and marketing roles, managing campaigns, events, and guest experiences across hospitality and tourism brands. Kelsey holds a Master of Arts in Communication Leadership from the University of Washington. 

During the Summer of 2025, UW Dining was presented with, and explored an opportunity to move quickly to make changes to the pizza program on campus. In this presentation, we will share the details about UW Dining’s recent transition from a regional pizza franchise to an in-house produced program. We’ll discuss the reasons we made this change, the goals, and our approach to launching the program on an abbreviated timetable. We’ll also discuss the steps we’ve taken to solicit and capture feedback, including strategies to engage the campus community as we evolve the program over its first two years.

Nick Contreras, Manager for UW Dining, started his journey with UW Dining as a student and has served as a dining leader for over five years. Nick has served in a variety of roles in coffee and pizza franchise brands and residential dining portfolios.

Eliot Norris is a graduate of Culinary Institute of America and has worked in various roles in higher education food services and hotel industry, including management of UW Athletics Dining facility, as well as leadership of Kent State University food services. Eliot currently serves as the Assistant Campus Executive Chef for UW Dining and leads efforts related to procurement, recipes, nutrition, safety and inventory. 

Jeremiah Trammell is the Assistant Director of Markets and Coffee Roasting and oversees the Coffee Education program for the University of Washington Dining. He has worked in the coffee industry since 1995, holds Coffee Roasting and Barista certifications, and has been at the UW since 2001, managing cafés and retail markets on campus. He leads the Husky Grind Coffee and Education program, which includes managing a cupping lab, green buying, roasting, training, and café operations. With a focus on traceable micro-lot and smallholder cooperative coffee, the program emphasizes living learning experiences outside of the classroom for student residents. 

Josh leads a comprehensive program serving more than 9,500 students and employing over 500 staff. He brings more than 20 years of housing, dining, and residential life experience, with leadership roles at Gonzaga, Washington State, and Oregon State universities, and has been an active contributor to the field through board, leadership, and faculty positions with the Association of College and University Housing Officers–International (ACUHO-I) and its regional affiliate. Josh earned his Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University and serves on the nonprofit boards of Emergency Management Group–Washington and the U District Partnership in Seattle. 

Aaron Shook is deeply rooted in the food and beverage industry and has a passion for creative hospitality. As General Manager and Area Director of Food & Beverage for Columbia Hospitality Aaron oversees Auxiliary Services operations for the University of Puget Sound as well as several other projects in the Puget Sound region. Beginning his career in the Heart of the House as a dishwasher, Aaron has spent more than 35 years helping hospitality organizations grow and thrive.

In addition to his work with Columbia Hospitality, Aaron is also co-owner of Perfect Storm Moments, a premiere event planning and design company in the PNW. Aaron is a Certified Professional in Catering and Events (CPCE), holds a certificate from the Events Industry Council (EIC) as a Sustainable Event Professional, is a past President for the Seattle Chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE), and served as Vice Chair for the Washington Hospitality Association’s (WHA) MSC board for 3 years, and currently serves as Director of Membership Retention for the Seattle Chapter of WIPA. 

Aaron graduated from City University of Seattle on the Dean’s List with a bachelor degree in business administration, with an emphasis on sustainability. He also graduated with honors from Cabrillo College in California for an associate degree in health and nutrition.  

Megan Underwood is the Associate Director for Resident Dining at Washington State University, where she oversees multiple residential dining centers, espresso operations, and retail concepts serving the WSU campus community. Originally from Idaho, Megan began her career in the hospitality industry as a chef working in resorts and Fine dining restaurants. Her passion for food and leadership eventually led her into higher education dining, where she discovered the opportunity to impact student and community life through hospitality. Over the course of her career, she progressed through roles including Executive Chef, Operations Manager, Director of Retail, and General Manager in Dining Services in the Universities segment. Megan brings a chef’s perspective to operational leadership and is passionate about mentoring emerging professionals while building teams that deliver exceptional dining experiences for campus communities.