Elizabeth Klingbeil

Alumni Office, Nutritional Sciences

Relationships formed during Ph.D. program were critical for Klingbeil's future career

Major/year graduated

Ph.D. Nutritional Sciences (Foods & Nutrition) 2020

Current occupation/location

Assistant Professor of Instruction, The University of Texas-Austin

What do you love about your current role?

I love working with students! I’m in a position where I get to work with students inside and outside the classroom, preparing them for careers and research experience and helping them work through ideas for their future. Another aspect of my role is rethinking and reworking how we approach nutritional sciences education—I get to improve our curriculum and innovate. Finally, being in Austin, I get to be at the forefront of a lot of health and nutrition industry advances. Acting as a nutrition expert is extremely rewarding and helps to advocate for registered dietitians’ expertise in this area.

How did your time at FACS help prepare you for your life or career?:

The most valuable thing I gained during my time at FACS was my relationships with faculty and staff. Nutrition is an incredibly broad scientific discipline and getting to know the wide variety of nutrition professionals at UGA in FACS was essential to my career today. I’ve been able to maintain these professional relationships—applying to different positions, asking questions about career paths and seeing friendly faces at national conferences.

What advice would you give current students who aspire to a similar career?

I’d encourage students to say “yes” to opportunities that feel out of their comfort zone more often. The only way to know what you want to do (or what you DON’T want to do), is to try things out. You may have an idyllic vision of what a job is, and then get into it, not seeing the other aspects that could be deal breakers for you. The earlier you are able to test job choices, the more comprehensive your understanding will be; and you will have more clarity in your ultimate decision making. I said “yes” to a lot of experiences during my time at UGA in FACS—some of which I LOVED. But there were others that gave me more clarity on what direction not to take my career—and that information was just as valuable!