This story covers activity that took place before June 27, 2025, when Ohio Senate Bill 1 took effect. CFAES has discontinued diversity, equity, and inclusion activities in compliance with the law.

• Dr. Melvin Pascall is the lead principal investigator in one of twelve teams chosen for funding through Ohio State’s seed fund for racial justice. The proposal is ‘Using a STEAM Model to Develop Access Pipeline for Middle Grade Students in Columbus Metro Schools’. This study proposes a model for developing a local pipeline to increase access to Ohio State for Black Students through a STEAM curriculum and mentoring model that focuses on “digital agriculture/social justice.” Co-Investigators on this proposal from the College include Pamela Thomas, Chieri Kubota, and Timothy McDermott.
• Dr. Yael Vodovotz is a co-investigator on a proposal titled “Relationship between diet, microbiome and SIV in wild and captive sooty mangabeys” that was awarded funding in the President’s Research Excellence (PRE) Accelerator Grant Program. The grant program provides seed support for cross- and interdisciplinary research projects that have the potential to attract external funding. Nineteen teams have been awarded funding through the Accelerator Grant program.
• Congratulations to Jerish Joyner Janahar and Yutong Li on being selected as OVIFT scholarship recipients. Jerish is a PhD student advised by Dr. Bala Balasubramaniam and Yutong is a PhD student advised by Dr. Hua Wang.
• Congratulations to Katie Williamson and Tommy Banker who have been awarded third place in the 2021 IFT Student Food Packaging Development Competition for their submission titled ‘Single-use coffee cup polyurethane liner from spent coffee ground oil'.  They will be honored at the IFT21 Virtual Event during the Food Engineering, Nonthermal Processing, and Food Packaging Division Joint Social event. Katie is a PhD student advised by Dr. Emmanuel Chatzakis and Tommy is an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering who participates in the department’s FoodSURE program.
• Dr. Mary Kay Pohlschneider and Dr. Brian Waters hosted group of high school students from the Franklin County Extension’s 4H camp for a hands on activity in the Wilbur A. Gould Food Industries Center. The students also spent time learning about career opportunities and even had a chance to eat their creations. This camp was made possible with a grant from the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation.
• Know Food Waste was recently featured in a CFAES story.

• Congratulations to the new leadership teams of the FST student organizations for 2021-2022:
  Food Science Club: Co-Presidents - Melanie Petitti & Emily Thimmes; Vice President - Angie Burdine; Secretary – Lauren Ma; Treasurer - Anna Carroll; Industry Liaison – Madeline Baker; Social/Volunteer Chairs – Cam Rich & Gabriella Gephart; Product Development Liaison – Betsy Cunningham.
  Citation Needed Science Communication Club: President - Joel Ramkhelawan; Treasurer – Erica Grush; Secretary/Social Media – Dahlia Moore; Events Chair – Celeste Miller; CFAES Rep – Sakura Sugiyama; Podcast Chair – Alec Osborn.
  Know Food Waste: President – Izabelle Vose; Vice President – still open. Contact badiger.1 if interested.; Treasurer – Kym Man; Secretary – Allison Howell; Repurposing Committee – Brianda Daniela Gonzalez;  Education and Outreach Committee - Mrunmayee Joshi; Composting Committee – Alana Bowser; Social Media – Olivia Severyn.

• The Phi Tau Sigma Buckeye Chapter's first ‘Phive’-K fun run/walk took place earlier this month.  Faculty, staff, and students turned out to participate in the event which took them through many beautiful outdoor spaces on the Ohio State campus. Special recognition went out to best finish times for faculty, staff, and student, as well as most powerful power walker. Phi Tau Sigma (ΦΤΣ) is the Honor Society for Food Science and Technology, and the Ohio State Buckeye Chapter is a student-driven organization specifically aiming to raise the stature of the Ohio food science academic, regulatory, and industry professions.

Upcoming Events
July 13-15                                Food Industries Center Training Course
Dairy Pasteurization Workshop (virtual)
https://foodindustries.osu.edu/events/dairy-pasteurization-workshop-online

July 19-21                               IFT Annual Meeting 

August 6                                 FST Summer Graduation Party