June 21, 2024
Jasna gave a talk "Towards Genotype-Informed Prediction of Bacillus cereus Group Phenotypes" at the CDC's Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology on June 14th, 2024.
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June 15, 2024
Jasna gave a talk "The Role of Fruit Processing Facilities’ Microbiomes in the Persistence and Antimicrobial Tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes" on June 15th, 2024, at the ASM Microbe's session "If We Build It, They Will Colonize: the Resident Microbiome of Food Processing-built Environments".
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May 21, 2024
Jasna is giving a seminar "Towards Genotype-Informed Prediction of Bacillus cereus Group Phenotypes“ at the Scientific Colloquium at the University of Munich on June 12 during her research visit at the University of Munich.
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May 2, 2024
Auja presented her research on microbial quality of nutrient solution in hydroponic systems at the European IAFP symposium in Geneva, Switzerland.
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April 8, 2024
Gamma Sigma Delta honored five faculty members who were nominated by their department heads and peers. Jasna Kovac, associate professor of food science, received the 2024 Outstanding Teaching Award.
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April 8, 2024
Graduate students Ashley Ohstrom and Auja Bywater, and undegraduate student Mackenna Yount receive Gamma Sigma Delta Research Expo poster presentation awards.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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February 16, 2024
Jasna provided insight into Listeria in the New York Times article on Listeria contamination of soft cheeses
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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.
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January 31, 2024
The ASM Peggy Cotter Travel Award Program provides funds for outstanding early career Branch members to attend ASM Microbe.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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October 11, 2023
Jasna gave a talk at the Michigan State University in the Food Science and Human Nutrition seminar series
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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.".
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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!
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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.
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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.
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June 15, 2023
Jasna gave a talk "Context matters – the role of microbiota in Campylobacter survival and culturability" at the Slovenian Microbiological Society Seminar Series.
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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
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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!
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April 5, 2023
Jasna gave a talk in the food safety seminar series at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
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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.
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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!
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