I am a public health nutrition researcher and dietitian. I am broadly interested in promoting equitable food environments, which exist when our physical, communication, economic, social, and political environments provide everyone with reliable, barrier-free access to the high-quality foods that they need and want. I particularly enjoy working with youth and using community-based and qualitative research approaches to study public health issues.
Research interests
Food environments
Weight stigma
Food insecurity
Rural health
Qualitative methods
Community-based research approaches
Educational credentials
Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition, and Health, University of British Columbia
PhD in Health Promotion and Socio-behavioural Sciences, University of Alberta
Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Alberta
Professional affiliations
Adjunct Professor, School of Public Health, University of Alberta
College of Dietitians of Alberta
Ferdinands, A. R., Brown, J. A., Nielsen, C. C., Nykiforuk, C. I., & Raine, K. D. (2023). What counts? Adding nuance to retail food environment measurement tools in a Canadian context. Public Health Nutrition, 1-12.
Ferdinands, A. R., McHugh, T. L. F., Storey, K., & Raine, K. D. (2022). Reflections on applying institutional ethnography in participatory weight stigma research with young women. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, 16094069221100939.
Ferdinands, A. R., McHugh, T. L. F., Storey, K., & Raine, K. D. (2022). “We’re categorized in these sizes—that’s all we are”: uncovering the social organization of young women’s weight work through media and fashion. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1193.
Conde, A., Ferdinands, A. R., & Mayan, M. (2022). Working hard or hardly working? Who are Canada’s working poor?. Journal of Poverty, 1-23.
Ferdinands, A. R., McHugh, T. L. F., Storey, K. E., & Raine, K. D. (2021). The ruling of weight: An institutional ethnography investigating young people's body weight surveillance work. Social Science & Medicine, 289, 114404.
Brown, J. A., Ferdinands, A. R., Prowse, R., Reynard, D., Raine, K. D., & Nykiforuk, C. I. (2021). Seeing the food swamp for the weeds: Moving beyond food retail mix in evaluating young people's food environments. SSM-Population Health, 14, 100803.
Ferdinands, A. R., Olstad, D. L., Milford, K. M., Maximova, K., Nykiforuk, C. I., & Raine, K. D. (2020). A Nutrition Report Card on food environments for children and youth: 5 years of experience from Canada. Public Health Nutrition, 23(12), 2088-2099.