Lauren Morris, RD, LDN

Bio

Lauren Morris is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and serves as the Regional Nutrition Extension Associate (RNEA) for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Steps to Health (North Carolina State University’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) Program).

The programs serve limited-resource communities, families, adults, and youth by providing evidence-based nutrition programs with the goal to empower participants to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors, and food resource management strategies.

In this role, Lauren provides leadership to the EFNEP Educators in the Region and facilitates and implements Steps to Health supported policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) activities to increase healthy food access and safe places to be physically active.

Lauren thrives on helping low-income communities drive community-wide changes related to healthy food and recreation access. One of her favorite aspects of her job is helping communities identify ways to provide safe and equitable access to recreation and physical activities.

Lauren received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from East Carolina University and a Master’s degree in Parks, Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Management from NC State University.

Programs and Initiatives

• Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
• Steps to Health- NC State’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) program

Professional Honors/Offices/Recognitions

• 2019 – R.E. Jones Program Team Award, N.C. Cooperative Extension

Selected Publications

• Hardison-Moody, A., Haynes-Maslow, L., Bocarro, J., Kuhlberg, J., Schulman, M., Bowen, S., Anderson, A., Morris, L. and Murphy, Y. 2020. Partners at Play: Engaging Parks and Recreation Departments in Extension’s Health Promotion Work. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 8, 3 (Oct. 2020), 177-188.
• Haynes-Maslow, L., Jones, L., Morris, L., Anderson, A., & Hardison-Moody, A. 2020. Development and Evaluation of a Family-Based Cooking and Nutrition Education Program. The Journal of Extension, v58 n3 Article v58-3rb5 (June 2020).

Area(s) of Expertise

• Community Nutrition Education
• Nutrition for Limited-Resource Families, Adults, and Youth
• Food Resource Management
• Food Safety Risk Reduction in Home Food Preparation
• Healthy Food and Physical Activity Access
• Policy, System, and Environment Change Implementation Related to Health and Wellness