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Food, agriculture and water safety aided by student & alumni research

(Feb. 26, 2007)

Through DHS Student Programs and the university Centers of Excellence, DHS supports student and alumni research to find solutions to ensure greater food and water safety.

Kristy Bachus - 2005 DHS Fellow - Graduating in 2007 from Michigan State University (MSU) with a master’s in forensic biology, Bachus’ researchs the use of a novel microbiocide that kills spores such as anthrax. DNA analysis of the spores can identify the strain used in a bioterrorism attack.

Lina deMontigny - 2003 DHS Fellow alumna - A veterinarian with a master’s in public health from Brown University, deMontigny studied the correlations between human and animal health. She studied the serosurveillance of the disease tularemia to better understand animals’ roles as sentinels for detecting bioterrorism agents and emerging new infectious diseases.

Jessica Godin - 2004 DHS Fellow - Completing a Ph.D. in applied physics at the University of California-San Diego, Godin is developing flow cytometers useful in the monitoring of water supplies for bacteria and other contaminants. She aims to make the cytometer more accessible by decreasing its size, cost and power requirements.

Marie Rienzo – NCFPD student – Earning a master’s degree in communication from MSU, Rienzo aids the NCFPD education component through the maintenance of www.FoodDefenseEducation.org – a educational resource repository for individuals protecting our food supply.

Denis Rochefort – NCFPD student – Seeking to better assess the education and training needs of environmental health officers (the individuals who inspect food processing and retail sites) Denis has lead focus groups and conducted research in his role as an NCFPD graduate student. He will graduate from MSU in summer 2007 with a master’s degree in communication.

Jeff Sholl – NCFPD alumnus - A graduate of the University of Minnesota with his Ph.D. in food science, Sholl is the Chief Executive Officer of BTSafety LLC, a company he formed to provide predictive modeling tools and software systems for rapid response to intentional and non-intentional food safety and security threats to the U.S. food supply.

Kirsten Simmons - 2006 DHS Scholar - Earning her bachelor’s degree in animal science and Spanish language and literature at North Carolina State, Simmons has partnered with North Carolina poultry producers to develop better biosecurity procedures and practices to prepare for the potentiality of avian influenza H5N1 in that state.

Kathleen Vidoloff – NCFPD student - Completing a master’s in communication at North Dakota State, Vidoloff has been accepted into the emergency managment Ph.D. program at NDSU. Her research has included a developmental role on NCFPD’s “Best Practices in Risk and Crisis Communication” team.

Doug Voss – NCFPD student – A postdoctoral researcher in supply chain management at MSU, Voss has bridged academia and industry to realize trade-offs such as price and delivery reliability that food producing organizations are willing to accept in order to receive increased security from their suppliers, and under what conditions they will make these trade-offs.

    NCFPD students Marie Rienzo and

Denis Rochefort