Skip to main content
  • Faculty & Staff Kintranet

Utility

  • Apply
  • Directory
  • For Employers
  • Giving
  • Spirit Store

Site Search

Home

Main navigation

  • Academics
  • Research
  • Admissions & Financial Aid
  • Student Services
  • News & Events
  • Alumni
  • About
  • Apply
  • Directory
  • For Employers
  • Giving
  • Spirit Store
  • Kintranet
Directory
Directory hero image
Filter Faculty

Role

Faculty (78)
Doctoral Advisor (40)
Emeriti and Retired (9)
Lab Personnel (40)
PhD Student (31)
Staff (64)

Program

Applied Exercise Science (18)
Athletic Training (13)
Movement Science (48)
Undergraduate (27)
Graduate (35)
Sport Management (22)
Undergraduate (21)
Graduate (14)
Natalie Colabianchi
Back to directory

Natalie Colabianchi, PhD

  • Professor, Applied Exercise Science
  • Associate Dean, Research
  • Director, Environment and Policy Laboratory
  • Graduate Faculty, Movement Science

About

Dr. Natalie Colabianchi is associate dean for research, professor of Applied Exercise Science, and director of the Environment and Policy Lab, at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. She also holds an appointment as a research associate professor in the Survey Research Center at U-M's Institute for Social Research. Prior to her time at U-M, Dr. Colabianchi was an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina. She completed her PhD in Epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University.

As principal investigator, Dr. Colabianchi has received more than $10 million in grant funding from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is an author on more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Annals of Internal Medicine, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. She has been an ad hoc reviewer for nearly 20 journals, including American Journal of Epidemiology,  Environment and Behavior, and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation​. Her professional affiliations include the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Colabianchi has advised more than 50 students for research, capstone, and committee activities across multiple universities. At U-M School of Kinesiology she teaches courses relating to the relationship between policy, the environment, and physical activity behavior at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Human Performance & Sport Science Center (HPSSC) (formerly Exercise & Sport Science Initiative) and a member of the Advisory Committee for Recreational Sports.

  • Download CV
  • Michigan Research Expert Profile

Areas of Interest

Dr. Colabianchi’s research focuses on the role of environments and policies in facilitating physical activity behavior in children and adults. She has completed a number of federally-funded studies that have examined the influence of parks and playgrounds as well as school and neighborhood environments. She is also interested in physical activity measurement including accelerometry and direct observation.

Contact

Address

SKB 3354

830 North University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048
United States

Phone

(734) 647-3543

Email

[email protected]

Classes

Course Course Title Credits Term
AES 100 Intro to AES 2 Fall, Winter
KINESLGY 416 Environmental Policy 3 As Arranged, Winter, Fall
KINESLGY 685 Res Rotation in Kin 3 - 6 Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
MOVESCI 629 Lab Mtr Cnt Dev 1 - 3 As Arranged, Fall, Winter

News

Income level and proximity to food stores affects quantity and quality of snacks and sweets people eat
A new study from Kines' Environment & Policy Laboratory delves into how Americans consume processed foods.
July 1, 2024
Uneven Play? Public schools in poorer parts of Philly lack playgrounds, study finds
February 13, 2019
Colabianchi receives $3.3M NIH award
October 27, 2017
UM logo
School of Kinesiology
830 N. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048
CAA HEP logo CAATE logo AKA logo

Menu

  • Intranet
  • Contact Us
  • Job Postings

Social

  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • X/Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr

© 2025 The Regents of the University of Michigan

Site produced by Michigan Creative, a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Communications