Rickelle Richards, PhD, MPH, RDN, CD, is the Director of Academic Unit Reviews at Brigham Young University (BYU). Dr. Richards has been a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science (NDFS) since 2007. Courses taught include a General Education (GE) nutrition course, community nutrition, advanced human nutrition, and maternal/child nutrition and health.
Dr. Richards' research focus is community nutrition, with special emphasis among populations with low-income. Dr. Richards has 40+ publications in peer-reviewed journals, based on research using qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Current research projects include food insecurity among college students, strengthening food insecurity measurement tools, evaluating independent eating occasions among adolescents from households with low-income, and a wellness intervention among transitional housing residents at a homeless resource center.
Prior to 2023, Dr. Richards served as co-coordinator for the NDFS GE nutrition course, nutritional science academic internship coordinator, strategic planning/unit review coordinator, nutritional science program coordinator, department safety coordinator, College of Life Sciences dean's advisory council, GE design committee, Institutional Review Board committee member, University Academic Review Council member, BYU Women's Conference committee member, and BYU Faculty Women Association's president/president-elect/historian.
Dr. Richards received a BS in nutrition science from Utah State University, an MPH from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and PhD in nutrition from the University of Minnesota. Awards received include the Sam and Aline Skaggs Mentoring Fellowship (2023), GE Professorship (2023), College of Life Sciences Faculty Distinguished Service Award (2019), and BYU Faculty Women’s Association Citizenship Award (2019).