30 years of mentoring: Food science spotlight

This year we are celebrating the 30th year of the CFANS Mentor Program. Look for some exciting celebrations and recognition throughout the program year! Have a special memory, photo or story from one of your years being a part of the program? Please share it with us at cfansaro@umn.edu.

As part of our year-long commemoration of this milestone, we'll be highlighting a mentor and mentee match each month. Get to know food science mentee Claire Peicheli and mentor Justin Wiertzema.

Claire Peichel is a third-year PhD student and obtained her B.S. in food science and M.S. in animal science at the University of Minnesota. She is currently working with professor Anup Kollanoor Johny, PhD, researching microbiological safety in poultry production and processing. Claire began working in this lab as an undergraduate student and then continued her graduate career looking at alternatives to antibiotics in the poultry industry. She previously looked at the potential use of essential oil supplementation in poultry production and post-harvest processing. Now, she is exploring the use of probiotics and vaccines in large-scale turkey production. She is a recipient of the USDA National Needs Fellowship and MnDRIVE Fellowship to support her graduate education.

Justin Wiertzema grew up in rural Breckenridge, MN on a small crop farm that harvested corn, soybeans and wheat. He has a B.S. in microbiology from North Dakota State University and a PhD in food science with an emphasis in microbiology from the University of Minnesota. His research focused on low-moisture foods and utilizing Intense Pulsed Light as a non-thermal pasteurization technique. After graduating, he worked at Mondelez International for two years as a senior scientist in their food safety department and just recently joined Post Consumer Brands as a microbiologist-senior scientist.