Congratulations to Auja Bywater on the 2nd place award at the 3-minute Thesis Competition

March 23, 2024

Auja was among 11 finalists of the 3-minute Thesis Competition of the Penn State Graduate School and was awarded the second place award for the presentation on March 23, 2024.

Kovac lab at the Phi Tau Sigma's Food Science in Action

March 23, 2024

Our graduate student Tyler Chandross-Cohen, the President of Phi Tau Sigma chapter at Penn State, led the organizing team of Food Science In Action symposium in the Department of Food Science at Penn State. Students Auja Bywater, Amelia Navarre, and McKenna Yount presented their latest research at the event.

Congratulations to our graduate Laura Rolon on her new position of Assistant Professor

March 23, 2024

Laura Rolon is joining The Food Science and Nutrition Department in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, as an Assistant Professor of Food Safety in fall 2024 - Congratulations!

Jasna gave a seminar at the Slovenian Microbiological Society Seminar Series

March 15, 2024

Jasna gave a talk "Context matters – the role of microbiota in Campylobacter survival and culturability" at the Slovenian Microbiological Society Seminar Series.

Congratulations to Auja for being selected as a finalist for 3 Minute Thesis competition

March 11, 2024

Congratulations to Auja for being selected as a finalist selected as a finalist for The Graduate School’s first 3 Minute Thesis competition.

Jasna gave a talk at the Umea University, Sweden

March 2, 2024

Jasna gave an invited talk on genome-based forecasting of Bacillus cereus group phenotypes at the Research Workshop on Bacillus in Clinical and Agricultural Environments at Umea University.

What to Know About the Risk of Food Poisoning From Listeria

February 16, 2024

Jasna provided insight into Listeria in the New York Times article on Listeria contamination of soft cheeses

Congratulations to Auja for being awarded an NSF IGE Scholarship

January 31, 2024

Auja Bywater received the NSF IGE Sustainable Development Program Scholarship to support her research on hydroponic systems at the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galápagos, Ecuador.

Jasna received ASM Peggy Cotter Travel Award

January 31, 2024

The ASM Peggy Cotter Travel Award Program provides funds for outstanding early career Branch members to attend ASM Microbe.

Foodborne-pathogen Listeria may hide from sanitizers in biofilms

January 24, 2024

An estimated 1,600 people in the U.S. contract a serious infection from Listeria bacteria in food each year and, of those individuals, about 260 people die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Penn State researchers may now better understand how the bacteria, called Listeria monocytogenes, survive and persist in fruit-packing plants by evading and surviving sanitizers.

Congratulations to Taejung on his postdoctoral fellowship

January 4, 2024

Congratulations to our recent PhD graduate Taejung Chung on his ORISE postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) SCINet and Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence. Taejung's research will involve applying machine learning methods for the mitigation of antimicrobial resistance in food-borne pathogens associated with chicken production.

Luke LaBorde and Jasna Kovac received the Integrated Team Award

December 9, 2023

Luke LaBorde and Jasna Kovac Receive were the 2023 Integrated Team Award recipients. The Integrated Team Award recognizes an integrated research and teaching and/or outreach team that has demonstrated innovation in translating research into outputs for dissemination and implementation through applied research-based activities that resulted in partnerships and engagement across the college and beyond.

Congratulations to Tyler for passing his comprehensive exam and being awarded the Student Leadership Award

November 9, 2023

Congratulations to Tyler Chandross-Cohen for passing his comprehensive exam and being awarded the 2023 Student Leadership Award sponsored by the Penn State Food Science Industry Group!

Congratulations to Ashley and Tyler for winning poster awards

November 9, 2023

Congratulations to Ashley Ohstrom and Tyler Chandross-Cohen for winning first and second-place poster awards at the Allegany branch of the American Society of Microbiology (ABASM) Annual Meeting!

Jasna gave a seminar at the Michigan State University

October 11, 2023

Jasna gave a talk at the Michigan State University in the Food Science and Human Nutrition seminar series

Congratulations to Dr. Taejung Chung

October 6, 2023

Congratulations to Dr. Taejung Chung for successfully defending his dissertation titled: "Comparative Genomic and Phenotypic Analyses of Bacillus cereus sensu stricto biovar Thuringiensis and non-Thuringiensis.".

Congratulations to Taejung Chung for the One Health Microbiome Center Leadership Award

September 8, 2023

Taejung Chung was awarded the Carolee Bull Leadership Award for his leadership of the One Health Microbiome Center Data Analysis Working Group (DAWG). DAWG develops microbiome data analyses workshops for the Microbiome Center community to build the capacity of the community for microbiome data analyses. Congratulations, Taejung!

Tyler Presents his Research at the 2023 IAFP Annual Meeting

July 17, 2023

Tyler Chandross-Cohen presented his research "Growth potential of Bacillus cereus group strains from different phylogenetic groups in a dairy food model.” at the 2023 International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Jasna Received the IFT 2023 Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott

July 16, 2023

The Outstanding Young Scientist Award in honor of Samuel Cate Prescott honors an individual who has provided significant, early-career research contributions that advance the science of food.

Jasna gave a seminar at the USDA FSIS Office of Public Health Science

May 3, 2023

Jasna gave a talk "Source attribution, survival, and culturability of Campylobacter" at the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Office of Public Health Science Seminar Series

Tyler and Anna received 1st place poster awards at the Gamma Sigma Delta Research Expo

April 9, 2023

Our undergraduate student Anna Sarubbi was awarded the 1st place poster award in the Undergraduate Division, Food Systems area. Our PhD student Tyler Chandross-Cohen won the 1st place poster award in the Graduate Division, Microbiology and Microbiome Systems area. Congratulation!

Jasna gave a seminar at the University of Nebraska Lincoln

April 5, 2023

Jasna gave a talk in the food safety seminar series at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Jasna awarded the Penn State Global Early Career Faculty award

April 3, 2023

The Penn State Global Early Career Faculty Award recognizes innovative international research projects, excellence in global scholarship, or curricular and experiential leadership surrounding global learning for a tenure-earning faculty member at Penn State.

Congratulations to Laura Rolon and Runan Yan for successfully defending their PhD dissertations

March 17, 2023

Laura Rolon defended her dissertation titled "The role of environmental microbiota in the persistence of Listeria monocytogenes in food processing facilities" on February 16th, 2023 and Runan Yan defended her dissertation titled "The investigation of the effects of chicken meat microbiome on survivability and culturability of Campylobacter" on March 17, 2023. Congratulations!

WE ARE... The Microbiome Center

December 21, 2022

We Are... the Microbiome Center is a new feature series that celebrates the people of the Center and the collaborative spirit we bring to “making life better” at the Center each day. Our PhD candidate Taejung Chung was highlighted in the inaugural issue of the feature series.

Congratulations to Taejung for the Graduate Student Competitive Grant

December 21, 2022

Taejung Chung was awarded a Graduate Student Competitive Grants Program by the College of Agricultural Sciences to support his research project "Comparative analysis of survivability, germinability, and cytotoxicity of Bacillus cereus s.s. and Bacillus cereus s.s biovar Thuringiensis spores in conditions simulating human gastrointestinal tract". Congratulations, Taejung!

Jasna receives the Early Achievement in Research Award

November 9, 2022

The Early Achievement in Research Award recognizes early-career faculty—either tenure-track or non-tenure track holding the rank of Assistant and within the first 6 years of their research career within CAS at Penn State—who have demonstrated an impressive level of independent achievement (e.g., extramural funding, publications, intellectual property, collaborative research, etc.) in their career, including prior work as a graduate student and postdoc, through extraordinary accomplishments, service, and leadership both internal and external to the college and university.

Prospective Food Science PhD student fellowship in water-energy-food nexus available

November 2, 2022

The water-energy-food (WEF) Nexus is an integrative framework for novel research to address complex challenges of sustainable and equitable resource management, economic development, and climate resilience. Graduate student fellowships are currently available at Penn State University for doctoral work on the WEF Nexus.

Kovac lab receives CDC grant to strengthen infectious disease surveillance

October 7, 2022

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has funded a $750,000 grant for research by a team of Penn State scientists to strengthen infectious disease surveillance, detection and preparedness by developing an accessible bioinformatics platform and tools for utilization by the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network.

REEU students engaging in research in our lab this summer

June 23, 2022

We are excited to welcome undergraduate students Sarah, Dariel, and Jaime to our Department and lab for a summer research experience. Students come to us through a USDA-NIFA-funded REEU program led by the faculty from the Penn State Department of Food Science and a NSF-funded REU program led by the faculty from the University of Puerto Rico and Penn State.