Denise Gardner Receives 2007 Student Leadership Award

Denise Gardner a 2007 graduate in Food Science with a minor in Horticulture and former graduate of Conrad Weiser Area High School, is the the second recipient of the Food Industry Group Student Leadership Award.

As an undergraduate at Penn State, she was an active member of the Food Science Club, the Institute of Food Technologist Student Association, American Society of Enology and Viticulture, American Wine Society, and the Wine Grape Network. Denise was as an Ag Advocate and served on several committees, including the New Advocate Student Training and Interview Committees, the Fall Retreat Committee, and Recruitment Committee. She also served as the undergraduate student representative to the Food Science Undergraduate Program Committee in 2007.

Denise served as an intern in 2003 for Lallemand Inc. in Taoulouse, France, conducting research and assisting with U.S. marketing advertisements. She served on a joint project between Penn State and the University of California-Davis studying the Grape Phylloxiera demographics in Oakville, California. She participated in Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), studying grape Phyllorexera gene expression analysis in the Chemical Ecology Lab in the Department of Entomology. Denise served as a lab assistant in numerous departments, including the food science department's Microbiology lab.

Denise is currently pursuing a M.S. degree at Virginia Tech University.