Alexa Ferdinands, University of Alberta

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Alberta profile.

food environment institutional ethnography weight stigma girls nutrition cooking social organization household food insecurity

Latest papers

Food Literacy Development Among Youth in a Girl Guides of Canada Program: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.
Journal of nutrition education and behavior · 2026 · first author
A qualitative study of how young women in a rural Canadian community plan their futures.
Health promotion international · 2025 · first author
“I like going into town and eating food”: analyzing the discursive construction of rural youth food environments in Canada
Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · 2025 · first author

All 26 publications

Latest funding

Navigating complexity: A mixed methods study exploring how food environments shape intakes of ultra-processed foods among transitional aged youth
CIHR · 2026 · Principal investigator
$10,000
Navigating protein misinformation: how nutrition misinformation shapes everyday eating in Canada
SSHRC · 2026 · Co-investigator
$89,970

All 2 grants and awards

26 publications.

01

Food Literacy Development Among Youth in a Girl Guides of Canada Program: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Ferdinands AR, Saunders A, Quintanilha M, Aylward B, Bayne H, Fernandez M, McHugh TF, Nagpal T

Journal of nutrition education and behavior2026First authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2026.05.012 PMID: 42467024

02

A qualitative study of how young women in a rural Canadian community plan their futures.

Ferdinands A, Ormandy M, Olsen S, Mayan M

Health promotion international20251 citationsFirst authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daaf095 PMID: 40591876

03

“I like going into town and eating food”: analyzing the discursive construction of rural youth food environments in Canada

Alexa Rae Ferdinands, Danielle Klassen, Matthew Ormandy, Natalya Lynch

Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition20251 citationsFirst author

DOI: 10.1080/19320248.2025.2606125

04

Rural health care aide training experiences in a Canadian tuition assistance program: a qualitative study.

Ferdinands A, Ormandy M, Hodge L, Mayan M

BMC nursing20251 citationsFirst authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.1186/s12912-025-03582-z PMID: 40660164

05

“We need them to keep putting food on our tables”: critiquing legislative discourses of food insecurity in Alberta, Canada

Matt Ormandy, Janat Ibrahimi, Mary Anne Beckie, Alexa Rae Ferdinands

Agriculture and Human Values20251 citationsSenior author

DOI: 10.1007/s10460-025-10782-5

06

Young people’s experiences of food environments in Canada: A scoping review protocol

Alexa Rae Ferdinands, Lucas Horvath, Allison Sivak, Breanne Aylward, Melissa Anne Fernandez, Taniya Nagpal, Tara-Leigh McHugh, Rachel Prowse

2025First authorOpen Access

DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/4ru67

07

Intersecting Expectations when Expecting: Pregnancy-Related Weight Stigma in Women of Colour.

Deol S, Ferdinands A, Hill B, Incollingo Rodriguez AC, Nutter S, Ramos Salas X, Nagpal TS

Journal of immigrant and minority health202411 citations

DOI: 10.1007/s10903-024-01619-0 PMID: 39017811

08

Edmonton's Race-based Data Table: A municipal approach to addressing systemic racism through the collection and use of disaggregated, race-based data.

Anaduaka US, Ferdinands A, Knoop J, Barber S, Mayan MJ

Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique20242 citationsOpen Access

DOI: 10.17269/s41997-024-00897-3 PMID: 38839742

09

Using Institutional Ethnography to Trace the Ruling of Weight Surveillance Work

Alexa Rae Ferdinands, Kim D. Raine

20241 citationsFirst author

DOI: 10.4324/9781003254041-3

10

Correction: Edmonton's Race-based Data Table: A municipal approach to addressing systemic racism through the collection and use of disaggregated, race-based data.

Anaduaka US, Ferdinands A, Knoop J, Barber S, Mayan MJ

Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique2024Open Access

DOI: 10.17269/s41997-024-00938-x PMID: 39289320

Navigating complexity: A mixed methods study exploring how food environments shape intakes of ultra-processed foods among transitional aged youth

Principal investigatorCIHR2026Team Grant: Health Effects of Ultra-Processed Foods - In HDCYH -LOI

Principal investigators: Prowse, Rachel; Ferdinands, Alexa R; Olstad, Dana Lee; Potvin Kent, Monique C; Vanderlee, Lana M

Keywords: Children And Youth; Commercial Determinants Of Health; Eating Behaviours; Equity; Food Environments; Food Literacy; Health Promotion; Participatory Research; Sugar-Sweetened Beverages; Ultra-Processed Food

$10,000

Navigating protein misinformation: how nutrition misinformation shapes everyday eating in Canada

Co-investigatorSSHRC2026Insight Development Grants

Principal investigators: Fernandez, Melissa

$89,970

From public funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998 with their latest competition results, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Canada Research Chairs, the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Ontario research funding, Michael Smith Health Research BC, the Canadian Cancer Society, Heart & Stroke and Brain Canada.

Frequent collaborators

Mary L'Abbé and Myrlande Labbé: 415 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Kim Raine: 55 shared papers
Kim Raine and Dana Olstad: 47 shared papers
Kim Raine and Kate Storey: 25 shared papers
Lana Vanderlee and Erin Hobin: 24 shared papers
Katerina Maximova and Julia Dabravolskaj: 24 shared papers
Dana Olstad and Rachel Prowse: 22 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and Lana Vanderlee: 20 shared papers
Lana Vanderlee and Myrlande Labbé: 20 shared papers
Kim Raine and Rachel Prowse: 18 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Dana Olstad: 17 shared papers
Taniya Nagpal and Sarah Nutter: 11 shared papers
Kim Raine and Alexa Ferdinands: 10 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and Dana Olstad: 8 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Kate Storey: 8 shared papers
Kate Storey and Tara-Leigh Mchugh: 8 shared papers
Dana Olstad and Myrlande Labbé: 8 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and Erin Hobin: 6 shared papers
Maria Mayan and Alexa Ferdinands: 6 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Alexa Ferdinands: 6 shared papers
Myrlande Labbé and Erin Hobin: 6 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Katerina Maximova: 5 shared papers
David Mowat and Katerina Maximova: 4 shared papers
Kate Storey and Rachel Prowse: 4 shared papers
Tara-Leigh Mchugh and Alexa Ferdinands: 4 shared papers
Kim Raine and Tara-Leigh Mchugh: 3 shared papers
Kate Storey and Alexa Ferdinands: 3 shared papers
Dana Olstad and Alexa Ferdinands: 3 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and David Mowat: 2 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and Jacob Shelley: 2 shared papers
Mary L'Abbé and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Maria Mayan and Candace Nykiforuk: 2 shared papers
Maria Mayan and Kim Raine: 2 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and David Mowat: 2 shared papers
Candace Nykiforuk and Jacob Shelley: 2 shared papers
David Mowat and Jacob Shelley: 2 shared papers
David Mowat and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Jacob Shelley and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Katerina Maximova and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Taniya Nagpal and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Myrlande Labbé and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Mary Beckie and Alexa Ferdinands: 2 shared papers
Maria Mayan and Mary Beckie: 1 shared paper
Candace Nykiforuk and Barbara von Tigerstrom: 1 shared paper
David Mowat and Barbara von Tigerstrom: 1 shared paper
Kim Raine and Barbara von Tigerstrom: 1 shared paper
Jacob Shelley and Taniya Nagpal: 1 shared paper
Jacob Shelley and Sarah Nutter: 1 shared paper
Kate Storey and Julia Dabravolskaj: 1 shared paper
Lana Vanderlee and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Katerina Maximova and Irina Dinu: 1 shared paper
Taniya Nagpal and Melissa Fernandez: 1 shared paper
Julia Dabravolskaj and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Julia Dabravolskaj and Irina Dinu: 1 shared paper
Erin Hobin and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Rachel Prowse and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Sarah Nutter and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Melissa Fernandez and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Barbara von Tigerstrom and Alexa Ferdinands: 1 shared paper
Alexa Ferdinands and Irina Dinu: 1 shared paper

School of Public Health
Clinical Public Health Division
Epidemiology Division
Ag, Food & Nutri Sci Dept
Center for Health Promotion
Interdisciplinary Studies
Department of Community Health Sciences
Other

1 shared papers, latest 2021

Sarah Nutter

Counselling Psychology

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Write to this professor

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Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: food environment Dear Professor Ferdinands, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Food Literacy Development Among Youth in a Girl Guides of Canada Program: A Qualitative Descriptive Study." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Navigating complexity: A mixed methods study exploring how food environments shape intakes of ultra-processed foods among transitional aged youth" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]