Current Rock of Residence:
St. Thomas, USVI
Island Girl Since:
2016
Originally Hails From:
Atlanta, GA
Ayla Shaw MS RDN is a board certified Registered Dietitian Nutritionist in private practice on St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Originally from the state of Georgia, Ayla completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia in Statistics. After working for several years as a catastrophe risk analyst, she decided to return to school and pursue a career in nutrition. She obtained her Master’ degree in Nutrition at Georgia State University before traveling to Connecticut to complete her dietetic internship focused in clinical nutrition at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Upon finishing her internship, Ayla followed her heart, aka a boy, and moved to the Virgin Islands. Shortly after arriving, she was fortunate to find employment and began working as a clinical dietitian at Schneider Regional Medical Center in St Thomas. She was living on St Thomas and employed by the hospital when Hurricane Irma hit in the Virgin Islands on September 6th, 2017.
Ayla began her personal blog and website in the wake of the storms to provide a resource for nutrition information focused towards the citizens of the suffering Caribbean islands and combat the epidemic of chronic disease she experienced on St Thomas. Today, she owns and operates Island RDN, a nutrition consulting company that offers outpatient counseling through several locations on St Thomas. Additionally, Ayla works as a consultant and freelance food and health writer. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog, Dobby.
Follow Ayla on her blog at, Island RDN, for more nutrition and health tips focused towards the citizens on the Caribbean islands.
Explore posts by this writer:
5 Obstacles (+ Solutions!) to Healthy Living on an Island
Leading a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge no matter where you live. But on an island, we face some unique obstacles that can feel hard to overcome (Did someone say, "rum punch?"). As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist on a rock, I'm deeply familiar with how...
