I am a food scientist at the Spur Food Innovation Center, a startup university-affiliated food incubator. My team and I help food businesses achieve their goals. Usually, this means helping small food entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality.  I get to help formulate products and do a lot of product development.  I'm in charge of shelf-life and quality testing, and I help our sensory scientist carry out sensory studies.

I got interested in food science while I was living in Madrid, Spain and working as a linguist. There was so much interesting food, and the most fascinating experiences were with fermented foods! In 2014 I returned to my home state of Colorado to pursue graduate work in food science and fermentation.  I quickly became enamored with the intricacies of cacao fermentation and processing, and Masters research investigated how to manipulate chocolate flavor during the melanging step.  

I moved on to my Ph.D at Colorado State University, where I was a member of the Food Structure and Function Lab. My doctoral research focused on the possible protective effects of the sourdough microbiome on gluten-mediated intestinal pathologies.  For my Masters, I worked on chocolate fermentation and post-harvest processing techniques.  

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