Miami alumna blends nutrition, exercise science, and public health to promote healthier communities
Miami alumna blends nutrition, exercise science, and public health to promote healthier communities
For Laura Simpson Bellows, a 1997 Miami University graduate in exercise science and health promotion with a minor in nutrition, a passion for improving community health has shaped a fulfilling career in research and education.
Now an associate professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, Bellows teaches and mentors undergraduate and graduate students while directing graduate studies. Her research explores how healthy eating and physical activity habits form in young children and how caregiver well-being influences child health outcomes.
After earning a Master’s of Public Health in nutrition from the University of Michigan, Bellows spent two decades in Colorado, where she worked as a public health practitioner, research study coordinator, Ph.D. student, and faculty member at Colorado State University. She joined Cornell’s faculty in 2020.
Bellows said her time in Miami’s College of Education, Health and Society (EHS) helped her integrate her interests in physical activity, public health, and nutrition, an interdisciplinary foundation that continues to guide her work.
In 2010, Bellows received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama, an honor she calls a career highlight.
She encourages current students to explore new experiences and take chances. “You don’t have to have it all figured out when you leave Miami,” she said.
