LFS Today Apr 9, 2021

Research and Teaching Seminars: Assistant or Associate Professor in Food Science

We will be interviewing 3 candidates for the position of Assistant or Associate Professor of Food Science, starting April 15. We have included their information below, along with Zoom links to each of the seminars.  Registration is required, so please click on the links in advance to register, and you will receive a confirmation email with info about joining the meeting, and an option to add it to your calendars.  We hope that you will be able to attend and to provide feedback to the selection committee.  A copy of the advertisement can be found here.  If you would like to meet with any of the candidates, please contact Melanie Train at melanie.train@ubc.ca.

Dr. Lingyan Kong, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management, The University of Alabama
Dr. Kong obtained his bachelor degree in Food Science and Engineering from China Agricultural University and PhD degree in Food Science from the Pennsylvania State University. His research interests are to understand the structure-function relationships in food biopolymers at the molecular, microscopic and macroscopic levels, and to develop food materials of unique structures and properties for improving food quality and health benefits. Dr. Kong has been conducting interdisciplinary and collaborative research that integrates knowledge from food science, nutrition, physical chemistry, and materials science. Dr. Kong is teaching NHM 253 Food Science, NHM 454 Experimental and Functional Food Science, and NHM 691 Grant Writing for Translational Nutrition Research, at the University of Alabama.
 
Research Seminar:  Novel Utilization and Optimizing Health Benefits of Food Biopolymers 
April 15, 1:00-2:30pm 
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Elf-2urzoiEtenfjwOk1qD5sHhnstY7YZS 
 
Grad Student Roundtable  
Open to all LFS graduate students
April 15, 3:00-4:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Iucu2uqjgrGNB8lqKC5Sz9NPxN-coZf9cL
 
Teaching Seminar:  Dairy Science
April 16, 11:00am-12:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5YrcOigpz0uGNN2c6_QR9f-niSaxcxQzaMS
 
Chalk Talk:  Blue Sky Research
April 16, 1:00-2:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5AuceutqzwpHNRL9Vt2UGfp00LbLHOiUVKW 

 _______________________________________________ 

Dr. Alexander Golberg, Associate Professor, Porter School of Environmental and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University
Dr. Golberg received a B.Sc in Food and Biotechnology Engineering from Technion and a PhD in Bioengineering from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley in 2011, and from 2012 to 2014 was a fellow at the Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital. From 2005 to 2010, he was a research engineer at Invitrogen. He was on board of three start-ups in the field of food technologies and bioenergy. Since 2014, Dr. Golberg has been a faculty member at the Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Since 2018 he is an Associate Professor with tenure and Head of the MA program on Environmental Studies.  Prof. Golberg’s interests are in biological systems engineering, bioenergy, macroalgae biorefineries, new sources for food, chemicals and fuels from macroalgae, exergy and applied thermodynamics, droplet microfluidics and electroporation.
 
Research Seminar:  Sustainable offshore seaweed biorefinery
April 21, 2:00-3:30pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Ikc-ytqD0oHd0DoQmyqI3ESgfNZ1IcXuZ5 
 
Grad Student Roundtable  
Open to all LFS graduate students
April 21, 4:00-5:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5coceCqrj0pGNUq-7ifcZzkblSPSavd0WY7
 
Teaching Seminar:  Electroporation and pulsed electric field technologies for food science and engineering
April 22, 11:00am-12:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5YpdemqpjspEtSm8hFiHZ_stKkBoP6Oq-w4 
  
Chalk Talk:  Food and Environmental Bioengineering Laboratory: training future responsible food experts in an academic environment 
April 22, 1:00-2:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5ctdeyuqjwoHdKv20cj__UC9ykIUQO23zM6 

_______________________________________________ 

Dr. Tianxi Yang, ORISE Research Fellow, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Institute for Food Safety and Health
Dr. Yang obtained her Ph.D. in Food Science with a specialization in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was then awarded BASF industrial postdoctoral fellowship for conducting research in BASF’s North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials. Dr. Yang’s research involves the development of innovative analytical technologies and advanced materials to improve the safety and sustainability of food systems, with a particular focus on novel spectroscopic techniques for sensing and imaging applications in food safety and public health. She is also interested in nanotechnology-enabled food packaging engineering and assessment of exposure to engineered nanomaterials. Dr. Yang has published 2 book chapters and 27 peer-reviewed journal articles in Nature Nanotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, Small, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Food Chemistry, etc. She was also awarded government and industrial funding, and won 31 awards and honors (e.g., Phi Tau Sigma Founders’ Award and Institute Food Technologists Feeding Tomorrow Scholarship)
 
Research Seminar:  Advancing Food Safety and Sustainability Using Innovations in Analytical Techniques and Nanomaterials
April 28, 1:00-2:30pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Elf-CqqDkjG9cVViyWM3T4mQ2jsVE15v6l 
 
Grad Student Roundtable  
Open to all LFS graduate students
April 28, 3:00-4:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5IucOmvqTgiGNB-NtmQlJQtBV2txCKWJcTT
 
Teaching Seminar:  Immunoassays in Food Analysis
April 29, 11:00am-12:00pm 
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50qcOGurDMoE9Y42mfzXqCTXdGZXK7YGz2c
 
Chalk Talk:  Innovative Analytical Technologies and Advanced Materials: New Opportunities for Sustainable Food Production
April 29, 1:00-2:00pm
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5cpd-2rpzIiGtBx9sNZnUBF43mdosXvfmeL 

Giving Day – That’s a Wrap!

UBC’s first Giving Day, a 24-hour online fundraiser, was held on April 7. 

For LFS, the Faculty raised a total of $13,605 and the grand total for UBC was $545,349! For those of you who supported Giving Day by spreading the news among your network or by making a donation, thank you!  And a shout-out to Zoe Campbell, Jane Miller, Amanda Reaume and Sabrina Yan for all of their work in preparing for Giving Day!
 
Here is the breakdown to LFS Funds:

• LFS Bursary – $10,970  
• Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm – $1,770 
• Haynes Graduate Scholarship for the Advancement of Animal Welfare – $530
• Dietetics Rural and Indigenous Communities Placement Fund – $335

LFS also achieved both of our matching/challenge gift goals for the LFS Bursary, with an extra $2000 being added by Rickey and $5000 coming from A&W. 

Sustainable Friday

Your sustainability tip of the week is:

Grow an home/office plant – studies claim that growing plants
can remove pollutants from the air and can reduce anxiety and stress.

Do you have a sustainability tip to share with your colleagues? Send it to mcm-lst@lists.ubc.ca and lfs.today@ubc.ca! Tips can cover a range of settings, from lab work to your community to working from home.

Designing Sustainability Curriculum – UBC Grants Available
 

The Interdisciplinary Education Grant program provides funding for small teams of UBC Vancouver faculty members to design interdisciplinary sustainability curriculum. Join your peers to innovate and enrich sustainability learning across UBC. To apply, submit a proposal with another faculty member from a different Faculty, Department or discipline. If successful, you will both receive an annual stipend in addition to the grant (grants are up to $10,000/year for one-two years).

Applications are now open and close on May 3, 2021. Visit the UBC Sustainability website for details.

Local Government Partnership Program – IAF
 

Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC is now accepting applications for the Local Government Partnership Program (LGPP). The LGPP helps regional districts and municipalities develop, update and implement agricultural planning tools with up to $40,000 per recipient in non-repayable, cost-shared funding. 

This LGPP is designed to:

1. Support the development of shared visions for agriculture in BC communities; and,
2. Encourage the integration of agricultural priorities into local government planning and decision making.

The desired outcome of the LGPP is for local governments to support the growth and economic viability of agriculture when making decisions about land-use planning and by-laws or regulations.

This program is a reprise of the Local Government Agricultural Planning Program, previously funded through IAF. Key changes in this new program include:

• An increased focus on the implementation of agricultural area plans, including financial support for carrying out eligible activities in approved plans;
• Evaluation criteria that will prioritize projects with a greater opportunity for success; and,
• Increased requirements for the applicant to demonstrate that there is sufficient support in place to effectively carry out the project and post-project activities.

To learn more, visit the IAF website.