Rhona Hanning, PhD, FDC
University of Waterloo

Dr. Rhona Hanning, Professor Emeritus, School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo has been a member of the Canadian Nutrition Society (and previously the Canadian Society for Nutritional Sciences) since 1986. Most recently, she has been active on CNS-SCN Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee, where one of her contributions was leading the development of the Society’s Position Statement (Commitment to Advancing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion). Dr. Hanning has engaged with CNS through annual conferences, invited presentations, serving as co-author on numerous abstracts, and facilitating her students’ involvement. Several of her trainees have participated in and presented at the Society’s annual conferences, establishing a longer-term connection between the next generation of researchers and practitioners and the Society and its network. 

Dr. Hanning has had an impactful career in the field of nutrition spanning over four decades. Her contributions extend to various areas, with an emphasis on community-based participatory research with Indigenous communities.  Dr. Hanning’s commitment to collaboration and community engagement is exemplified in initiatives such as her work to advance food sovereignty with the Williams Treaties First Nations, as well as the implementation and evaluation of food-to-school programs to improve access to healthy local and traditional foods and enhance food skills in First Nations communities. 

Dr. Hanning is a creative researcher and has been an early adopter of methods to improve the rigor and translation of research. This includes her work with Indigenous communities in which she centers lived experience and her engagement in implementation science before this area was recognized as its own field. Further, Dr. Hanning developed and validated the Waterloo web-based eating behavior questionnaire (WEB-Q), a user-friendly approach to dietary assessment used dominantly in school-level surveillance.

Dr. Hanning is a Fellow of Dietitians of Canada and her ongoing research focusses on decolonizing dietetic practice. Through work supported by the Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research, the team has examined current efforts towards Indigenization, decolonization and reconciliation within Canadian dietetic education and training programs and engaged with the literature and Indigenous leaders in academia and health to identify strategies to foster inclusivity and equity within nutrition and dietetics. Dr. Hanning’s commitment to advancing inclusion and equity is also reflected in her teaching. She collaborated with an Indigenous Elder to create the seminar course, “Truth, Reconciliation, and Health”. Students participate in learning circles, with storytelling to learn about the history of colonization in what is now known as Canada, and use creative approaches, such as artwork and poetry, to represent their learning. 

Dr. Hanning has published nearly 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, many led by trainees and has given over 75 invited talks to external scholarly and professional groups. A recipient of a University of Waterloo Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision, Dr. Hanning has directly supervised 14 PhD and 18 MSc candidates. She was appointed as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Health (2012-2013 and 2015-2020). Dr. Hanning also served as the Faculty of Health Strategic Plan Implementation Lead to help advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.