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Samantha L

- Research Program Mentor

PhD at Cornell University

Expertise

Food microbiology, consumer packaged goods industry, brand management, brand marketing

Bio

My background is heavily in Food Science and I have a lot of experience in both the product development, food safety/quality realm and brand management. I have worked for many consumer packaged goods companies. I am currently in brand management at a major food company. I am able to use my technical background in business decisions! On the weekends, you can usually find me filming and editing videos or out biking.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Using technology to address food waste

Every year, more than a billion tons of food is wasted worldwide. This represents about 30% of the total production and presents a great economic loss for the society as well as a negative environmental externality. This wastage occurs in all countries (developed as well as developing), in all food products (e.g. cereals, meat, fish and seafood, milk, eggs, oilseeds and pulses), and at all stages of the supply chain (production, transportation, processing, and retail). Students can learn about food waste and how we can use technology to solve the issue! You can better understand the structure of the food supply chain, identifying potential location and processes, which are susceptible to contamination, developing tools to reduce the risk of pathogen or microbial intrusion, and building systems to quickly and accurately identify and destroy contaminated or spoiled food.

Food industry case study

Review the consumer packaged goods and/or health and wellness industries and conduct a SWOT analysis on the future of sustainable food, on a national and/or global scale.

Coding skills

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Teaching experience

I have tutored students for SHSAT prep and have been a grad student TA for undergrads for two courses. I have also mentored 3 students previously on Polygence!

Credentials

Work experience

Kraft Heinz (2022 - Current)
Associate Brand Manager
Antithesis Foods (2019 - 2022)
Brand Manager
Banza (2018 - 2019)
Product Development Intern
Hain Celestial (2018 - 2018)
Research and Development Intern

Education

Cornell University
BS Bachelor of Science (2018)
Food Science
Cornell University
PhD Doctor of Philosophy (2022)
Food Science and Technology

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