Linda Fergus

Linda earned her bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Louisiana State University, and then attended the Texas Woman’s University/Houston VA Medical Center Combined Dietetic Internship where she earned her master’s degree and completed her dietetic internship. Linda has been a Registered Dietitian since 1991 and has worked extensively in the clinical nutrition field with a current focus on patients with eating disorders since 2006. Linda returned to LSU in the summer of 2018 to work on a PhD in Human Nutrition where she currently works in an assistantship with the SNAP-Ed program at LSU with a research focus. The focus of her dissertation research is the development of social marketing messages aimed at improving nutrition and physical activity behaviors in rural, low-income audiences.

Linda plans to use conjoint analysis to determine preferences for components of social marketing messages designed for the rural, low-income audience in Louisiana. Results will be segmented by geographical area, and market simulation of the components is planned to select the most-preferred combinations of message components. This will be part of the formative data gathered to inform future SNAP-Ed social marketing campaigns in the state.