Helen Chipman, Ph.D., RDN

Dr. Helen Chipman serves as National Program Leader for Food and Nutrition Education at USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). With an emphasis on low-income nutrition education, Dr. Chipman administers the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), the nation’s first federal nutrition education program for low-income populations. Working within NIFA and in cooperation with other agencies and program partners, she supports nutrition security efforts and program implementation research on direct education, messaging, and policy, systems, and environmental change. Within NIFA she also contributes to staff development and to competitive and capacity grant processes. Dr. Chipman fosters shared understanding across organizational systems and structures. She led the development and implementation of a socio‐ecological framework for nutrition education, a national online program monitoring, evaluation, and reporting system, and peer educator and professional core competencies. She oversees data aggregation and national reporting for EFNEP. Prior to her Federal appointment, Dr. Chipman had program administrative, teaching, and research responsibilities as an extension specialist and professor at South Dakota State University. Dr. Chipman is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. She received her PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition from Colorado State University.