For the past decade my research program has focused on determining the identity, mechanisms of formation, and causative factors of crystals in cheese, and elucidating the direct and indirect effects that crystals have on cheese appearance and texture. After my research group received two international research awards from the International Dairy Foods Association/American Dairy Science Association and the Mineralogical Association of Canada in 2018, I shifted out of laboratory research in 2019 to pursue new forms of scholarship focused on cheese history and its intersection with past climate change events.
My teaching focuses on the history of cheese and its place in western civilization and beyond (NFS 050 Cheese and Culture), and an in-depth overview of the science and technology of cheesemaking (NFS 195 Principles of Cheesemaking)