Faculty News

Alissa Nolden- Dr. Nolden attended EuroSense in Dublin Ireland where she and her students presented their work. She also was an invited speaker for a community event at Abandoned Brewery for SciTech Cafe. Dr. Nolden is a co-chair for the Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, the largest international sensory science conference, to be held August 17-21 in Philadelphia, PA.

Amanda J. Kinchla- Prof. Kinchla recently invited to visit the Renaissance School, an Expeditionary Learning and STEM Magnet school in the Springfield Public Schools serving grades 6-12. She introduced approximately 60 10th-grade students to food science through a 3-part classroom experience focused on developing a low-calorie beverage. Additionally, Prof. Kinchla, along with the 2025 Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety and the 2024 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), presented projects from their integrated research-extension team. She is also collaborating with NC State and UMaine to launch a new hybrid sanitation course, called SCPP: Sanitation Controls Practitioner Program, which includes self-paced online training, an in-person hands-on workshop, and a series of virtual coaching sessions to help processors build skills relevant to sanitation programs.

David Julian McClements- Dr. McClements spent 3 weeks in the Danish Technical University (Copenhagen, Denmark) and 2 weeks in Zhejiang Gongshang University (Hangzhou, China), where he gave various scientific talks and set up collaborations with industry and academic scientists. He was again ranked the most highly cited food scientist in the world (H-index 204). He was also interviewed on NPR on Science Friday program on the creation of marbling textures in plant-based meat, on Korean TV on the design of plant-based foods for hot weather climates, and on CNN about the potential toxicity of titanium dioxide particles in food. 

Eric Decker- Dr. Decker served on the USDA NIFA Panel on Novel Foods and Innovative Manufacturing. 

Lili He- Dr. He delivered a guest lecture on food science innovation at the Isenberg School of Management and was invited to speak on innovation at the interface of food and nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also conducted an external review for Ohio State University's Department of Food Science and Technology. Additionally, her students presented their research at the AOAC and EAS conferences. 

Matthew Moore- Dr. Moore attended the Northeastern Center to Advance Food Safety, American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Institute of Food Technologists (partially; IFT), International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), and Gordon Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems 2024 Conferences to present research from the Moore Lab. He was also featured in “The Omnivore” and “The Drip” podcasts by IFT and AQUALAB, respectively, as well as quoted in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Montague Reporter about food safety and viruses.