News from the Department of Food Science and Technology

Greetings, everyone!

As we conclude the fall 2025 semester in the Department of Food Science and Technology, I want to recognize the incredible engagement, growth, and achievements that have defined our community over these past months. This season, we also celebrate our fall 2025 graduates, whose dedication and perseverance have led them to this exciting milestone. We are pleased to share that they continue to earn excellent job opportunities and graduate placements, a reflection of their hard work and the strength of our programs.

Thank you to our External Advisory Board for attending the on-campus meeting on October 24 and for thoughtful discussions with college leadership and department faculty, and staff. Your presence and participation made valuable conversations about the Aplin Center, our departmental vision, and future opportunities in extension, research, teaching, and fundraising possible. We are grateful for your support and partnership.

Our new AgriLife Extension Program continues to thrive. This semester, our team reached more than 800 contacts and provided over 1,200 educational hours across Texas. Highlights included a professional development webinar for AgriLife Extension agents supporting Texas entrepreneurs, a sold-out Discovering the World of Coffee workshop with Polite Coffee, and an acidified foods workshop for the Manufactured Foods Division with Dr. William Whiteside.

Student engagement was evident at Longhorn Section of Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Suppliers Night Expo in DFW, where 43 students attended to network and learn from industry professionals. Longhorn IFT awarded $9,500 in scholarships to seven students in recognition of their hard work and promise. We are also proud to share that the Texas Food Processors Association awarded 13 students a total of $38,000 in scholarships, and Alamo Section IFT awarded $8,750 to 6 students — all an extraordinary investment in our students’ futures.

We also celebrated our students at the Food Science and Technology Annual Scholarship Reception, recognizing 45 outstanding undergraduate and graduate recipients, including our class of 2029 Dean's Excellence Scholars. Special thanks to our faculty, staff, donors and honored guest, Dr. Patricia Klein, Executive Associate Dean, for making the event a memorable celebration of academic achievement and community spirit.

Other fall highlights included the Cereal Quality Lab Baking Fair and Contest held on November 17, thanks to generous support from the Texas Wheat Producers Board.

In addition, the Food Biomanufacturing Workshop, organized by Dr. Reza Ovissipour and his team on October 6–7, welcomed 30 national and international experts to campus for cross-sector collaboration and innovation.

The IFANCA Poster Competition showcased our students’ research and creativity, featuring 18 graduate and 5 undergraduate presenters, with more than 150 attendees.

Our department’s reputation and community continue to strengthen, with new admit numbers growing by roughly 10% annually. We are also proud to congratulate our fall 2025 graduates — 4 undergraduates and 3 graduate students — on their remarkable achievements.

Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and looking forward to a bright and impactful spring 2026 semester together!

Thanks and Gig'em!

David Baltensperger, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Department Head

david.baltensperger@ag.tamu.edu

Texas A&M AgriLife to aim eBeam at New World screwworm fight

Texas A&M AgriLife and the Office of Radiological Security, ORS, part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, are teaming up on a national effort to combat New World screwworm, NWS, including producing sterile flies in the U.S. via electron beam, or eBeam, technology to halt fly reproduction.

Texas A&M AgriLife and NNSA are exploring safer alternatives to high-radioactivity technologies to address New World screwworm and other invasive arthropods. The eBeam is a potential safer alternative to high-radioactivity cobalt-60 gamma sterilization. The effort will expand collaboration with other academic institutions to advance the best radiological security practices nationwide.

Coffee science: Expert answers about your daily brew

Coffee is more than a morning pick-me-up. It’s a global industry that shapes economies and everyday culture. At the Center for Coffee Research and Education, scientists study every stage of coffee — from how it’s grown on farms to the drink in your cup.

Eric Brenner, assistant director of the center housed within Texas A&M AgriLife Research’s Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, works with growers worldwide to improve coffee quality and resilience. He also teaches the “Introduction to Coffee Science” course in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Food Science and Technology.

How Vickie Kloeris ’78 fed astronauts and fuels Aggies

Vickie Kloeris ’78 grew up in Texas City and came to Aggieland leaning toward a career in medicine. While registering for her final semester as a microbiology major, she was short one elective hour to graduate. Against advice to take an easier class, she registered for a four-hour food microbiology course in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Food Science and Technology.

That elective class changed everything. It opened her eyes to how microbiology could be applied to food science. She followed that passion to where it led: a master’s in food science, research in the Kleberg Animal and Food Sciences Center’s seafood technology lab and, eventually, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she spent her career defining what astronauts eat.

Researchers find sustainable sanitizer to reduce salmonella on produce

Food scientists in the Department of Food Science and Technology have found a way to make fresh produce safer, using what most would throw away.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists found that leftover liquid from probiotic fermentation, known as fermentation waste broth, can be upcycled to reduce foodborne pathogens. The breakthrough by Seockmo Ku, Ph.D., assistant professor of food science, who led the study with doctoral student Min Ji Jang, both in the Department of Food Science and Technology, was recently published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Giving to the Department of Food Science and Technology

The department offers many gifting opportunities that will have a lasting impact on our department.

Department of Food Science and Technology Scholarships

Learn about the many scholarship opportunities available in the department.

About the Department of Food Science and Technology

Established in 2020, the Department of Food Science and Technology aspires to develop a world-class training, research and outreach program that leads the nation in shaping the future direction of the food science profession, while innovatively meeting the current and emerging needs of stakeholders. The department is invested in unique high-impact education and research programs that apply contemporary and novel technologies in food processing, food safety and quality, and sustainability.

aglifesciences.tamu.edu | foodscience.tamu.edu

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