About me

I am Holly Harris, a nutrition behaviour scientist and Accredited Practising Dietitian from Brisbane, Australia. I have a Bachelor of Health Science and PhD in nutrition and dietetics from the Queensland University of Technology. Currently, I am working as an Assistant Professor at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences.

I started my journey with gaining experience working as a dietitian with rural and urban communities in Queensland. But what I noticed in my clinical work was that, while most of us generally know WHAT is healthy for us to eat, this does not necessarily determine HOW we eat. This prompted many questions relating to the development of our eating behaviours, and how we respond to our appetite and the food environment around us…

Why do some individuals find 'treat' foods irresistible, even if when they are not hungry? 
Why are others extremely picky with certain types, textures and flavours of foods? 
How do our eating behaviours change throughout our life?

Deciding to pursue a research in nutrition behaviour has allowed me to make a significant contribution to broad questions like this. Ultimately, I want to understand how we can foster healthy and positive attitudes towards foods, while considering the whole person: their eating behaviours, personality and life circumstances.

With over a decade of research experience, I’ve worked and collaborated with researchers at institutions all over the globe, including:

  • Australia (Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland)
  • the UK (University College London, University of Leeds, University of Cambridge)
  • the USA (Pennsylvania State University) and
  • Europe (Erasmus Medical Center, Erasmus University Rotterdam)

For more information, contact me via email.