Gianna Bonis-Profumo is an interdisciplinary social scientist, interested in food systems and dietary quality, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and fisheries as well as gender relations among smallholders. She shares a joint appointment as an Adjunct Research Fellow with the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) at Charles Darwin University, Australia. Her work focuses on research in development, exploring the links between food systems resilience and women’s empowerment in agriculture and fisheries, as well as child and maternal dietary practices and nutrition-sensitive approaches in low- and middle-income countries. She is passionate about food security and nutrition and, through her work, aims to make visible the voices of rural women, indigenous peoples and smallholders and to advocate for their agency to access nutritious and affordable foods year-round.

In 2022 she joined WorldFish as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Timor-Leste where she guides nutrition and gender research across projects, particularly on nutrition-sensitive and inclusive approaches to fisheries management, aquatic food systems and aquaculture farming.

Born in Barcelona from an Italian mother, she holds a doctorate in rural development and public health nutrition, a masters in development studies in anthropology and a degree in political sciences. She has worked in Australia and Southeast Asia for over a decade.