Aly Trombitas never planned to be a nutritionist. Before coming to Cornell, she began her career with community nonprofits in food, farming, and environmental education. To take on more of a leadership role in the field, she knew she would need a master’s degree. When Trombitas found Cornell’s MPH Program, with its focus on equity and sustainability and a food systems and health concentration, “it felt like the perfect fit.” Plus, Trombitas says, “Cornell is the place to be if you’re interested in food and farming!”

As an MPH student, Trombitas immersed herself in projects with community partners, including Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). She helped manage gardening programs with CCE in Tompkins County (home to Ithaca), and developed a white paper for six upstate New York CCE offices about changes in hunting and foraging behaviors due to COVID-19. She also served on multiple MPH Program equity and inclusion committees and worked with the Tompkins County Health Department to call people tested for COVID-19.

“The stars just aligned with this role,” says Trombitas, who was on-boarded as nutrition director with CCE-Tompkins after graduation. Her work with CCE now mostly falls within USDA’s SNAP-Ed, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, as a “policy, systems, and environment nutritionist” with six counties across New York State, including Tompkins. “What appealed to me [about this job] was thinking of nutrition on a broader, food systems public health level.” Trombitas enjoys building relationships with community partners and expanding the concept of nutrition education to more fully integrate equity, accessibility, and the environment. She partners with organizations such as libraries, food pantries, and nonprofits who support people with barriers to food security, such as victims of domestic violence, families with developmental disabilities, and women and students with financial obstacles. “At a public health level, you know so many factors impact food security, so it makes sense to integrate systems thinking into community nutrition.”

Written by Audrey Baker