Katherine Alaimo

Katherine Alaimo is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, directing the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Minor and Specialization. She works in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, focusing on nutritional epidemiology and community-based participatory research.

• PhD in Community Nutrition (minor fields: Epidemiology and Government/Ethics), Cornell University, 2000
• MS in Community Nutrition, Cornell University, 1997
• BS with Honors in Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, 1991

Her research explores food justice, urban agriculture, school nutrition policies, and pro-environmental behaviors. Recent publications examine compost amendments' microbial impacts, pandemic gardening trends, and randomized trials on community gardening's health benefits.

Key article trends include interdisciplinary studies of soil-human microbiome interactions, behavioral interventions in schools, and social-emotional wellbeing through gardening. She contributes to journals like Lancet Planetary Health and Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.

She teaches courses including HNF 150 – Introduction to Human Nutrition and CSS 826 – Sustainable Agriculture Capstone Seminar. Her outreach includes the Community Activation for Prevention Study and Keep Growing Detroit Storytelling Project.