In March we welcomed Hannah Rohrlach to Nutrition & Dietetics at Flinders University as Community Nutrition Engagement Officer, taking the reins from Heidi Jak. We talk to Hannah about her role in discipline and some of the exciting projects she has been working on so far.

I am very excited to accept this position, allowing me to continue and expand the discipline’s work in my passion area of community health promotion. My primary role is to develop and manage collaborative Community Nutrition Partnerships. Currently we have a longstanding partnership with Nazareth Catholic Community, but also welcome our recent partners Wakefield Regional Council and Yorke Peninsula Council. The purpose of these partnerships is to achieve local health and nutrition outcomes in each community, which we undertake via consultation, project implementation and evaluation. These partnerships offer valuable work integrated learning opportunities, and a significant part of my time is dedicated to providing placement education for Community Public Health Nutrition students throughout the year. I really enjoy working with students, particularly encouraging innovative thinking which is a personal interest area of mine. Read about the partnership experience from Nazareth’s perspective here.

Finally, and as the job title suggests, I’m the contact for any other community engagement opportunities. I am managing and growing a network of students and graduates who I can connect to work and volunteer opportunities, which often involves providing group nutrition education sessions to address community requests.

I love that this role allows me to be resource person and think creatively, plus keeps me on my toes working on multiple projects. If you’d like to connect with Flinders Nutrition & Dietetics in any of these ways, or have another idea, I’d love to hear from you!