FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Faculty members in the U of A's School of Human Environmental Sciences recently spent part of a weekend helping local girl scouts with their holiday soap making project.

Nancy Buckley, an instructor in human nutrition and dietetics, Betsy Garrison, professor and director of HESC in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and Luz Palmerin, a student majoring in hospitality management, assisted in the project.

Girl Scout Troup 5132 made around 70 bars of soap to be used as holiday gifts. The bars were molded into forms of Christmas trees, Santa Claus, snowflakes and other shapes.

The scouts, under the direction of troop leader Heather Butler, and assistants Elizabeth Cox, Amy Fugere and Alegandra Villuneuba, chose the color for each bar and the scent, either rose, coconut or peppermint.

"It was a lot of fun, they were so cute," said Buckley. "There were some older girls who helped the younger ones. We molded the soap and let them add the coloring and the scent. I poured them, let them set, we fed them lunch and then they wrapped them."

Soap making involves combining oils with the correct balance for desired lather, hardness and scent.

"We have a kitchen where I teach basic cooking skills and making soap isn't much different from cooking," said Buckley.

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.