Jessica Wegener PhD, RD (she/her)

Jessica Wegener is a Registered Dietitian and an Associate Professor in the School of Nutrition at Toronto Metropolitan University. She received her BASc from the University of Guelph (Applied Human Nutrition), MSc at the University of Guelph (Applied Human Nutrition) and PhD from the University of Waterloo (Health Studies/Public Health). Jessica completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, where she facilitated discussions with communities to identify action-oriented solutions to food insecurity. Jessica’s current research and teaching interests involve public health (nutrition), food policy, and promoting wider consideration of sustainable dietary patterns and sustainable food systems. Jessica is currently working with national and international research partners to explore how dietitians, within diverse areas of practice, support transitions to sustainable dietary patterns. She is also currently exploring how Canadian and international dietetics programs are incorporating sustainable food systems education in teaching and training to prepare future dietitians for practice. As part of this work, Jessica is collaborating with international dietetic educators to develop and test a global framework for SFS education. Through a co-design process, the framework is informed by dietitians, nutritionists, and other food system actors and includes food and nutrition security as a central feature of what should be prioritized in teaching and training future generations of dietetic and nutrition professionals globally. Jessica has been working with past and current Executive members of the Centre for Studies in Food Security since she joined Ryerson (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in 2012.

Updated November 2024