Hannah Neufeld

Contact information 

Office: LHN 1726

Phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 32269

Email: hannah.neufeld@uwaterloo.ca 

Research interests 

My research focus for the past 20 years has been community-based, working with Indigenous families and communities on the revitalization of Indigenous food systems and supporting land-based practices and education in southern and urban settings across Canada. I also have experience working in international nutrition policy and evidence-based guideline development with the World Health Organization. Current research interests continue to focus on health inequalities, taking into consideration community interests, along with environmental and other factors influencing maternal and child health, along with Indigenous food systems globally.

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

I welcome applications from graduate students, particularly those who identify as Indigenous, with aligned research interests in the following areas:  

• Indigenous health
• Indigenous food systems
• Maternal nutrition
• Infant and young child feeding
• Diabetes prevention
• Food sovereignty
• Energy sovereignty
• Global health

Graduate studies application details

Teaching interests

• Qualitative research methods
• Indigenous health
• Food security
• International nutrition

Education

BASc Applied Human Nutrition, University of Guelph, 1992

MSc Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 2003

PhD Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 2010

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship: Department of Geography/Indigenous Health Lab, Western University, 2015

Selected Publications 

Neufeld, H.T. & Xavier, A.L. (2019). The Evolution of Haudenosaunee Food Guidance: Building Capacity Towards the Sustainability of Local Environments in the Community of Six Nations of the Grand River. In Jennifer Sumner and Ellen Desjardins (Eds.) Critical Food Guidance: Eating Toward Sustainability. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.

Neufeld, H.T. (2019). Socio-historical influences and impacts on Indigenous food systems in southwestern Ontario: The experiences of Elder women living on and off-reserve. In Priscila Settee and Shailesh Shukla (Eds.). Indigenous Food Systems: Concept, Cases and Conversations. Toronto: Canadian Scholar’s Press.

Walker, C., Alexander, A., Doucette, M.B., Lewis, D., Neufeld, H.T., Martin, D., Masuda, J., Stefanelli R., Castleden, H.  (2019). Are the pens working for justice: News media coverage of renewable energy involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Energy Research and Social Science. 57: 101230.

Gordon, K., Xavier, A.L., Neufeld, H.T. (2018). Healthy Roots: Building capacity through shared stories rooted in Haudenosaunee knowledge to promote Indigenous foodways and well-being. Canadian Food Studies. 5:180-195.  

Neufeld, H.T. & Richmond, C.A.M. (2017). Impacts of place and social spaces on traditional food systems in southwestern Ontario. International Journal of Indigenous Health. 12(1): 93-115.

Neufeld, H.T. & Cidro, J. (2017). Indigenous Experiences of Pregnancy and Birth. Bradford, ON: Demeter Press.

Neufeld, H.T. (2014). We practically lived off the land: Generational changes in food acquisition patterns among First Nations mothers and grandmothers. In D.M. Lavell-Harvard & K. Anderson (Eds.), Mothers of the Nations: Indigenous Mothering as Global Resistance, Reclaiming and Recovery, (pp.27-45). Bradford, ON: Demeter Press.

Neufeld, H.T. (2014). Perspectives of health provision practices for First Nations and Métis women with gestational diabetes accessing services in Winnipeg, Manitoba. BMC Health Services Research, 14:440.