Leigh A. Gantner completed a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from Cornell University, where her dissertation was entitled, “Building environments to promote healthy weights among childbearing women.” Gantner earned her master’s degree in nutritional sciences from Cornell and holds a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University in biology and anthropology. Her teaching experience includes social science perspectives on human nutrition, physiological and biological bases of human nutrition and human biology and evolution.
She has worked as a nutrition educator at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County in Auburn, NY, where she directed the food stamp nutrition education program and the expanded food and nutrition education program. In this role, she authored a weekly column for the community on nutrition.
Gantner has presented her research at several national conferences, including the American Public Health Conference and the Food and Nutrition Services (USDA) National Nutrition Education Conference. Her publications include research on food advertising and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Most recently, she authored, “Food advertising policy in the U.S.,” and “An integrated approach to poverty alleviation in Mexico,” both of which appeared in Case Studies in Food Policy for Developing Countries.
Gantner’s professional affiliations include the Society for Nutrition Education, American Dietetic Association and the Central New York Dietetic Association.