Meghan R. Longacre, MS, PhD
Meghan Longacre is a child developmental researcher with expertise in the socioecological influences on children’s, adolescents’, and young adult’s health risk behaviors. For the past 12 years, her research has focused on the prevention of childhood obesity. Her current work examines the influence of food marketing on preschoolers’ diet. Meghan has worked with several prominent community organizations, including the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont, and WGBH, the Boston PBS Affiliate, to design and evaluate research-informed curricula to promote energy-balance practices in preschool, middle-school, and high-school settings. She serves on the board of editors for the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, and is a reviewer for NIH’s Time-Sensitive Obesity Policy and Program Evaluation mechanism. As a qualitative researcher, Meghan consults with research teams regarding appropriate use of qualitative methods within child-focused research projects.
More recently, Meghan served as the director of the Hybrid (online/on-campus) Master of Public Health program at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. She currently teaches the Qualitative Research Methods short course in the Hybrid MPH program. In addition, she is the co-Course Director for the “Practicum” series of courses (PH261-PH264), which combines the Applied Practice Experience and Integrated Learning Experience requirements for the Hybrid MPH program. Since coming to Dartmouth in 2001, she has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students.
She earned a BA in psychology from Rutgers University, and an MS and PhD in family studies and human development from The University of Arizona.