Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. As you consider both your personal and career goals, I want to invite you to explore the many facets of our department. We offer 2 Undergraduate Minors: one in Food Systems, and the other in Nutrition. Each of these provide an excellent complement to a wide range of degree plans and career paths.  For those seeking advanced training in nutrition our Master of Science degree offers concentrations in Public Health (MPH), Food Security and Nutrition; preparing graduates to work for agencies, businesses, and organizations that seek to improve nutrition at the local, national, and global level. We also offer Graduate Certificates in Food Security and Nutrition. Finally, for those who wish to pursue a career as a registered dietitian, our Nutrition Dietetic Concentration (MS) meets the criteria for the Future Education Model by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) and prepares you to sit for your RDN registration exam.

Across our programs, a unifying theme is the importance of science as the foundation for advancing the field of nutrition and public health. The science of nutrition is about understanding the biological, psychological, environmental and sociocultural complexity that influences health, wellbeing and overall quality of life and the role nutrition plays in that. Our faculty come from a range of professional and scientific backgrounds such as public health, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, food systems, global nutrition, and clinical nutrition. This allows us to address the challenge of health promotion from a multidisciplinary perspective. This also facilitates a broad understanding of how nutrition fits into the lives of all individuals in the context of their complex lives, the places they live, the cultural and personal backgrounds they bring and the resources they have. The goal of our nutrition department whether it be through our education programs, clinical training, research, or community outreach and engagement activity is about preparing students to meet people “where and how they live” with evidence-based nutrition and health promotion guidance. Our students are exposed to the most recent advances in the field, learn a range of skills, and gain experience in how to apply cutting edge scientific discovery to real world settings. Our department positions students to make a difference.

Modern evidence-based nutritional science is about understanding human nutrition as a multifaceted and multidetermined human experience. It is also about empowering people and populations to take positive action for overall health. It requires a deep understanding of environmental factors, sociodemographic influences, and personal barriers and motivations that influence overall self-care. Our faculty and students bring diverse perspectives and together we are positioned to take on the challenges in improving the health and well-being of the individuals and communities we serve.

Martin Binks, Ph.D., MBA.
Chair, Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.