Member Profiles
Danielle Berman is Chief of the Special Nutrition Evaluation Branch in the Office of Policy Support of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. She oversees a team of researchers managing a broad portfolio of evaluation studies designed to inform Child Nutrition programs (including the National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. These studies address a wide range of program-related questions, including detailed analyses of dietary behaviors of program participants, the nutrition content of meals or foods that these nutrition assistance programs provide, and the relationships between program participation and food security. Dr. Berman also oversaw the Healthy Incentives Pilot evaluation, among other studies related to healthy eating and food access. Prior research areas include agriculture and food systems development in the context of economic change, job quality and employment opportunities, and health insurance access among low-income households. Dr. Berman previously held positions as a visiting professor at Beloit College and an adjunct professor of Sociology at Georgetown University where she taught the courses, Food, Farms, and Society, and Sociology of health and illness. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.