June 22, 2025
Jasna is wrapping up a six-month sabbatical in Claudia Guldimann's lab at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. It was a refreshing and inspiring time filled with growth, new ideas, and exciting collaborations that are sure to continue well into the future.
June 21, 2025
Jasna was honored with the 2025 Early Career Research in Environmental Microbiology Award at the American Society for Microbiology's Awardees and Academy Fellows Reception during ASM Microbe.
June 18, 2025
Auja Bywater's work "Farming Forward: Partnering with Bacteria to Strengthen Soilless Farming Worldwide" was selected for the FAO Biotech Innovation Challenge presentation at the AO Global Agrifood Biotechnologies Conference. Congratulations!
June 16, 2025
Auja Bywater was awarded the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC) Graduate Fellowship for the 2025-2026 academic year. Congratulations!
June 4, 2025
Huge congratulations to Sam on landing a faculty position in the Department of Animal Science at Penn State! Wishing you all the best in this exciting new chapter.
May 8, 2025
Tyler Chandross-Cohen presented his research on Bacillus cereus at the European International Association for Food Protection annual meeting in Madrid, Spain.
April 3, 2025
Tyler Chandross-Cohen was awarded the Dr. Daryl B. & Mrs. Dawn L. Lund Student International Scholarship of Phi Tau Sigma, The Honor Society of Food Science and Technology, to support his travel to the European International Association for Food Protection meeting in Madrid, Spain. Congratulations!
March 3, 2025
Amelia Navarre defended her thesis titled: "Prevalence and control of viable Campylobacter on chicken breasts" on February 28th, 2025.
March 3, 2025
Auja Bywater, a doctoral student in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, has been awarded second prize in the Global Challenges University Alliance (GCUA) 2030 research competition for her work titled "Improving Food Safety in Controlled Environment Agriculture Systems."
January 30, 2025
Gathering showcases agriculture-focused research of Penn State faculty and graduate students, celebrating interdisciplinary connections that foster innovation, sustainability in global agriculture
January 15, 2025
Thirteen graduate students in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences received research grants recently awarded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, organized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among them was "Persistence and control of foodborne pathogens in hydroponic systems," awarded to Auja Bywater, food science.
December 23, 2024
Wrapping up the semester and starting the holiday season with the White Elefant at the lab dinner. Happy holidays!
December 17, 2024
Six research teams received high-impact research publication awards, which recognize peer-reviewed research demonstrating significant impact. A paper from Kovac lab: “The composition of environmental microbiota in three tree-fruit packing facilities changed over seasons and contained taxa indicative of L. monocytogenes contamination,” published in the journal Microbiome was awarded a high impact award in the area of Nutritional and Food Security.
November 8, 2024
Summer REEU program students Fabiola Quintana-Perez and Brian Praul presented their research with their graduate student mentors Amelia Navarre and Tyler Chandross-Cohen at the annual meeting of the Allegheny Branch of the American Society for Microbiology.
November 8, 2024
Congratulations to our MS student Amelia Navarre for winning the 2nd place award in the graduate poster division at the annual meeting of the Allegheny Branch of the American Society for Microbiology!
September 19, 2024
Results of a new study suggest sewage monitoring could provide early warning of foodborne disease outbreaks to public health authorities
September 19, 2024
Jasna is giving a talk at the Penn State One Health Microbiome Seminar on September 27th at 11 AM.
September 16, 2024
Auja Bywater was awarded a $14,997 research grant for the project: "Persistence and Control of Foodborne Pathogens in Hydroponic Systems." Congratulations!
September 9, 2024
Jasna was awarded the 2025 Early Career Environmental Research award by the American Society for Microbiology.
August 19, 2024
Tyler Chandross-Cohen was awarded a USDA NIFA predoctoral fellowship for the project “Assessing the role of hemolysin Bl in cytotoxicity and fitness of B. cereus in food systems.” Congratulations!
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.
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".
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.
May 2, 2024
Auja presented her research on microbial quality of nutrient solution in hydroponic systems at the European IAFP symposium in Geneva, Switzerland.
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.
April 8, 2024
Graduate students Ashley Ohstrom and Auja Bywater, and undegraduate student Mackenna Yount receive Gamma Sigma Delta Research Expo poster presentation awards.
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.
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.
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!
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.
