Julianna Puskar

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Full time Student, University of Maine at Orono; Food Science/Human Nutrition Major

Age 21

Talk about what you are studying…

In my human nutrition courses I’m learning how food impacts people’s health. Food science is the study of food itself, or the actual chemical analysis; the structure of food. We also do taste testing to determine quality and check for consistency over time. In microbiology we look at how microbes affect food with the purpose being to create better crops, create more nutritional and sustainable foods and foods that are better for the environment. I am most interested in food safety. Every facility that processes nutrients has to follow certain FDA standards and undergo hazardous analyses. I want to know more about these procedures.

What are your hopes and dreams for the future?

I’d like to go to graduate school. Here at the University of Maine they have a four-plus-1 program that looks quite interesting. I would also consider joining the industry for a period of time instead. I would like to live close to family so the New England region as a whole is appealing to me.

Tell about college life…

College is a mix of both stress and great enjoyment. Although you have assignments piling up and research projects due, there is also the delight of being constantly surrounded by good friends. We are located not far from Acadia National Park where hiking is fantastic. Today there is a farmer’s market here in town and we also have Baxter State Park close by and hiking trails close to the campus.

I spend a good deal of my time on research projects. Most recently I had to ask one of my coworkers what she had against my sense of smell. We were in the seafood research lab and she was performing an experiment with scallops. The control group was live scallops and the other group was sous vide processed scallops that exhibited a slower rate of decay. (Sous vide is the method of vacuum sealing food in a bag and then cooking it to a precise temperature in a water bath). The last day of testing was after a month and a half and she asked me to grind the controls. I have worked in horse barns in the past but this was hands down the worst smell I have ever had to deal with. I did actually have to finish grinding the scallops since no one else wanted to help. We eventually learned that high pressure yields tougher scallops along with the fact that most humans cannot endure the scent of aged raw scallops.

Tell about memories in Granby…

I was on a rock climbing team at the YMCA for several years and really enjoyed that since sports activities are a big part of my life. There was an event at Salmon Brook Park called Dog Days of Summer that my family liked to go to each year. I remember they had booths for different types of dog food, pet adoptions and greyhound adoptions. People brought their dogs to the park to run around and they were allowed to swim in the water. I had a good time meeting the many different breeds of dogs and petting them. I am a bit dog crazy.