Degree Program

MS Food & Nutrition

Home University

North Carolina A&T State University

Home Mentor

Heather Colleran, Family and Consumer Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University

Cornell Mentor

Miguel Gomez, Dyson School and Department of Global Development and Hale Ann Tufan, School of Integrative Plant Science

About the Fellow

Lauren San Diego is a master’s student of Food and Nutritional Sciences in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The COVID-19 pandemic and working in the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Food Assistance Program have motivated Lauren to focus her graduate studies on food insecurity and the food environment, from policies affecting food availability to individuals’ knowledge and values affecting their food choices.

Her previous research projects have focused on diet patterns of exercising breastfeeding mothers and nutrition education for the self-sufficiency of adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities. She has also contributed to research on the diet patterns of collegiate athletes and enjoys expanding her knowledge of sports nutrition. She completed her Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work at Florida International University in 2017 and her dietetic internship to become a registered dietitian through the College of Allied Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 2018.