New nutrition specialist brings food insecurity and nutrition policy expertise to Far West Texas
Rogus joins Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in El Paso
Stephanie Rogus, Ph.D., hopes to help residents in Far West Texas adopt healthier diets and reduce their risk of chronic disease.
Rogus, an expert in nutrition research and education, will provide educational outreach and insights on food security, food policy and nutrition. She will serve the region from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at El Paso.
She has a 75% appointment with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, a 25% appointment with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and is an assistant professor in the Texas A&M Department of Nutrition.
“We are excited to have Dr. Rogus on our team,” said Beth Racine, Dr.P.H., center director, associate department head and nutrition professor. “Her expertise on food and nutrition issues will provide evidence-based programming to AgriLife Extension agents. And her research leadership will help AgriLife Research become a national leader in applied nutrition research.”
Rogus’ collective responsibilities
Rogus will help AgriLife Extension develop, modify and evaluate nutrition program curricula and materials. She also will collaborate with county agents and other staff to provide support and expertise on nutrition-related programs.
“I am thrilled to be at the Texas A&M AgriLife center in El Paso, Rogus said. “I hope my knowledge and experience will help Texans adopt healthier diets and reduce their risk of chronic disease. I also hope that my research will contribute to impactful advancements in nutrition science.”
In addition to her research and outreach nutrition duties regarding diet quality and consumer behaviors, she will mentor graduate students.
“We are excited to have Dr. Rogus join the AgriLife Extension team serving in our nutrition unit,” said Courtney Dodd, Ph.D., the agency’s associate director for health, families and youth programs. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and will be a great asset to our agency and a terrific resource for our county agents in Far West Texas. Dr. Rogus and these agents will work together to meet the needs of Texas residents related to nutrition, diet quality and consumer behavior.”
Rogus’ professional and academic experience in nutrition
Rogus earned both her doctoral and master’s degrees in food studies from New York University and her bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of Texas at Austin.
Before coming to Texas A&M, she was a scientific integrity campaign manager for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, where she led advocacy campaigns to encourage federal agency transparency and evidence-based public health policymaking.
Rogus also has previous university-level teaching experience as an assistant professor of human nutrition and dietetic sciences in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
She has obtained numerous grants, peer reviewed dozens of publications, published many research briefs and abstracts, and contributed a chapter on training registered dietitians within a food systems framework for the book “Practicing Food Studies.”
Rogus has been active in a variety of professional services that addressed topics such as healthy eating, COVID-19, nutrition, obesity, food security, public health nutrition and environmental nutrition.
