FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jennifer Becnel has joined the faculty of the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Becnel, an assistant professor, recently completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where she worked with Meg Zeller on research related to high risk behavior in adolescents with severe obesity.

"We are simply delighted that Dr. Becnel has joined our faculty," said Betsy Garrison, director of the School of Human Environmental Sciences. "She is the first faculty member hired in the school's childhood obesity initiative. Her research is both cutting edge and particularly relevant for Arkansans, given our state's obesity rate."

In the most recent rankings of 2013 by The State of Obesity web site, Arkansas is third in the nation with an adult obesity rate of 34.6 percent. The state's childhood obesity rate is sixth for 10-to-17-year olds at 20 percent and second for high school students, 17.8 percent.

Becnel earned her doctorate in family and human development from Arizona State University in 2013, her master's in developmental psychology from San Francisco State University in 2006 and her bachelor's in psychology from San Diego State University in 2004.

Becnel completed the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health training program at the University of California-San Francisco in 2006 and family impact seminar training at the University of Wisconsin in 2007.

She was as assistant professor of psychology at the Oregon Institute of Technology from 2011 to 2013 and an adjunct faculty member at Glendale Community College in Arizona from 2010 to 2011.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.