Source: UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS submitted to NRP
FOOD SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING (FUEL) SCHOLARS PROGRAM: A YEARLONG REEU TO PROPEL STUDENTS INTO A CAREER IN FOOD SCIENCE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1021685
Grant No.
2020-67037-30662
Cumulative Award Amt.
$482,549.00
Proposal No.
2019-05077
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 1, 2020
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2025
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS
(N/A)
AMHERST,MA 01003
Performing Department
Dept: Food Sciences
Non Technical Summary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the job outlook for Food Scientists to grow at 7% between the years of 2016-2026, employing an additional 3,100 Food Scientists. The UMass Food Science Undergraduate Experiential Learning (FUEL) Scholar Program will enhance the preparation of the Food Science workforce and the long-term stability of the US Agriculture and Food System. The FUEL Scholar program will be a yearlong program to bring together academic laboratory research and industrial internships. The program will provide students three key educational components: (i) Mentorship and support to help students to optimize the professional and interpersonal skills needed to be successful in industrial internships and research labs (ii) Laboratory research experience with the excellent researchers at Department of Food Science at UMass Amherst and (iii) Industrial internship experience in the Boston MA area. With the goal to guide students to translate base knowledge and laboratory to real-world problems in the food industry. Students will be involved in the program for an entire year, but student financial support will support a 12-week internship with an industrial partner. There are three FUEL Program Mentors (McLandsborough, Decker and Moore), along with Collaborating Mentors in the Department of Food Science, and in industrial settings. We are expecting to have 6-12 students each year, with a mentor to participant ratio of 1:1 - 0.83, during both the school year and summer internship. We estimate 80% of the participants will be from UMass Amherst, and the remainder to be recruited from National Student Exchange. This program will advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied food science, and will provide students with a varied exponential learning experience.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
50%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
7125010110030%
7025010101030%
5025010200030%
5025010309010%
Knowledge Area
702 - Requirements and Function of Nutrients and Other Food Components; 712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins; 502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3090 - Sensory science (human senses); 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1100 - Bacteriology; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The UMass Food Science Undergraduate Research program is a yearlong REEU program to bring together academic laboratory research and industrial internships. The program will provide students three key educational components: (i) Mentorship and support to help students to optimize the professional and interpersonal skills needed to be successful in industrial internships and research labs (ii) Laboratory research experience with the excellent researchers at Department of Food Science at UMass Amherst and (iii) Industrial internship experience to translate base knowledge and laboratory to real-world problems in the food industry.The goal of this program is to provide experiential food science learning opportunities to undergraduate students in a research laboratory and at an industrial internship. The output will be to provide experience and skills to undergraduates to aid in pursuing graduate school and/or the food industry upon graduation. The outcome of this program will be a highly trained workforce in food science as well as solidified relationships with companies in the epicenter of food innovation. Ultimately, we hope that the positive experiences of the program will lead to future industry funding of the program to extend these student experiences for many years.Objective 1. Recruit and pair students with faculty. The FUEL Scholar program will advertise the opportunity on the UMass Amherst campus, other local campuses and among campuses, whose students can have a year of study at UMASS through the National Student Exchange program. Each spring, there will be an application and interview process. Successful applicants will be selected based upon academics, research interests, interpersonal skills, and applicant diversity.Objective 2. Mentor student success during laboratoryresearch and industrial internships. Students selected for the program will be paired with a faculty member and an industrial internship partner. When possible, we will connect academic research and industrial internship to strengthen learning.Objective 3.Programatic evaluation. Programmatic success will be evaluated. We will have a formal request for feedback from industrial internship sponsors, as well as monitoring student outcomes throughout their career (after graduation and five years post-graduation).
Project Methods
The unique aspect of the FUEL Scholar Program is the connection between mentorship, academic research, and an industrial internship experiential learning. Amherst Food Science department will mentor FUEL scholars. In addition, the students will take classes in research methods and the business aspects of the food industry. The vast majority of the funds will be to support students to live at the Mt. Ida Campus of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and participate in an industrial internship funded by the FUEL program, with continued mentorship and support with the UMass Food Science faculty. The FUEL Scholar Program will provide each student a summer stipend, allowing students to experience an industrial internship, without losing the opportunity to earn money over the summer break. The FUEL program will pay the student rooming costs at the Mt. Ida Campus of UMass. Before the start, and after the internship, students will be required to provide a reflection paper describing their expectations for their upcoming internship, and their experience.A major goal of the FUEL Scholar program is to become a financially self-sufficient program; therefore, we are proposing a phased sponsorship model. For each FUEL scholar placement in a food company, the FUEL Scholar program will cover the costs of an internship the first year and half the cost the second year, with the goal that the business will fully fund an intern the third year. The ultamate goal is to provide internship opportunites to students for many years past the funding period of the program.William Miller is the Assistant Director for CAFÉ, UMass Extension, and the MA Ag Experimental Station will act as an evaluation consultant in some capacity. Before his current role, he was formerly the Director of Program Evaluation for UMass Extension. With Dr. Miller's input, the FUEL Scholar Program will develop evaluation tools and a protocol for application. Data will be a matched time series to identify student development throughout the program. Also, a survey of the industrial mentors will be developed to evaluate student industrial performance.

Progress 05/01/24 to 04/30/25

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:There were a number of difficulties that led to this project being terminated early. - The undergraduate program in Food Science at UMass has a large population of international students (36%), and since these funds could only be used for US citizens, the presence of a program for only 2/3 of the students was problematic. - The model of paying students and then placing them in industrial internships was flawed. Students felt entitled (rather than thankful) for positions. While some companies were good mentors and provided defined projects and guided students to grow, other companies did not have defined projects or mentorship for students. - Lastly, the PI took a full-time administrative role at the University, and the co-PIs did not have the time to devote to the program. No funds were used during this timeframe. Due to these factors, during the 05/01/2024 to 04/30/2025 period, the program discontinued andno funds were used. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? nothing to report

Publications


    Progress 05/01/20 to 03/02/25

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:There were a number of difficulties that led to this project being terminated early. - The undergraduate program in Food Science at UMass has a large population of international students (36%), and since these funds could only be used for US citizens, the presence of a program for only 2/3 of the students was problematic. - The model of paying students and then placing them in industrial internships was flawed. Students felt entitled (rather than thankful) for positions. While some companies were good mentors and provided defined projects and guided students to grow, other companies did not have defined projects or mentorship for students. - Lastly, the PI took a full-time administrative role at the University, and the co-PIs did not have the time to devote to the program. No funds were used during this timeframe. Due to these factors, during the 05/01/2024 to 04/30/2025 period, the program discontinued andno funds were used during the last year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students were placed in industrial internshipsand participated in independent research projects during the school year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? The project ran for two years and a total of 8 students participated.

    Publications


      Progress 05/01/20 to 02/27/25

      Outputs
      Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:This model of a "free intern"was difficult to manage. Some industrial sponsors did a good job guiding students, while others did not have well thought out projects or plans for students, making their experience less than ideal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students were placed in industrial internshipsand participated in independent research projects during the school year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? The project ran for two years and a total of 8 students participated.

      Publications


        Progress 05/01/23 to 04/30/24

        Outputs
        Target Audience:Students for workforce development are the primary audience for this project. We had three FUEL Scholars placed in faculty laboratories over the 2022-23academic year and were paid scholarships while they worked with food industry partners over the summer of 2023. The food industry partners hosting students were Boston Beer Co (1 student), Chew (2 students),Motif (1 student), and Catelli-Brothers (1 student) over summer 2023. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Internship placement. Five students were placed in internships over the course of Summer 2023 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

        Impacts
        What was accomplished under these goals? A goal of this program was to expose students to laboratory research and industrial experience in Food Science. The five students who completed the program had two semesters of laboratory research in faculty laboratories on the UMass Campus and then were placed in internships at three small - mid-sized food companies in the Boston area: Boston Beer Co, CHEW Innovation, and Motif Foodworks. This year we added a processer the Worcester area: Catelli Brothers.

        Publications


          Progress 05/01/22 to 04/30/23

          Outputs
          Target Audience:Students for workforce development are the main audience for this project. We hadthree FUEL Scholars placed in faculty laboratories over the 2021-22 academic year and were paid scholarships while they worked with food industry partners over the summer of 2022. The food industry partnershosting students were Boston Beer Co, Chew, and Motif. Over the academic year 2022-23, we have six FUEL scholars performing research in faculty laboratories. Students will be placed with four industrial partners over the summer of 2023. Changes/Problems:We discovered that public transportation was a barrier for students - some companies interested in participating in the program were not accessible via public transportation from the available housing (UMass Mt Ida Campus, Newton, MA). Instead, studentssublet housing near universities located in Boston for better access to public transportation. In addition, some interested companies could not participate due to the limitation in public transportation and difficulties in finding short-term housinggeographically near positions for the students. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Three students completed the FUEL Scholar experience (Fall 2021- 2022).The three students who completed the program hadtwo semesters of laboratory research in faculty laboratories on the UMass Campus and then were placed in internships at three small - mid-sized food companies in the Boston area.Of the three students who completed the program, one student graduated and started a position in the food industry, and the other two are currently completing their final year at UMass and applying for graduate programs in Food Science. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the second cohort of FUEL Scholars (Sept 2022 - August 2023) will complete their internships. They are in their second semester of research and preparing to interview with the host companies. This cohort is six students who will be placed with four small- mid-sized food companies.

          Impacts
          What was accomplished under these goals? A goal of this program was to expose students to laboratory research and industrial experience in Food Science. The three students who completed the program had two semesters of laboratory research in faculty laboratories on the UMass Campus and then were placed in internships at three small - mid-sized food companies in the Boston:Boston Beer Co, CHEW Innovation, and Motif Foodworks participated in the program.

          Publications


            Progress 05/01/21 to 04/30/22

            Outputs
            Target Audience:Three FUEL Scholars are participating in the 2021-2022 program. They have been placed into faculty laboratories to perform lab-based research projects. We are working with three food industry partners in the Boston area for summer internship placement. Changes/Problems:Due to a delay in starting due to COVID, we are currently in the middle of the first year of the FUEL program. We are in the process of pairing students with industrial internships during Feb 2022. We have learned pairing students with internships should be during the fall semester. At the sametime as companies are recruiting in our program.In addition, with input from our industrial partners, we will increase the fellowship levels for the FUEL students over the summer. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training in scientific research have been given to students involved in the program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Spring 2022: AY 21-22 FUEL Scholars will continue laboratory research and be paired with industrial internships AY 22-23 FUEL Scholars will be selected Summer 2022 FUEL Scholars AY 21-22 Scholarsparticipate in industrial internships and programmatic assessment will take place Fall 2022 FUEL Scholars will be paired with faculty to begin laboratory research Monthly FUEL Scholar Mentoring Meetings will be held to focus upon professional skills FUEL Scholars will be placed in industrial internships

            Impacts
            What was accomplished under these goals? Over the past year, we have: 1) Developed a program web page and recruited three students as the initial class of the FUEL Scholars program 2) Placed students with faculty research mentors to participate in scientific research ad held monthly meetings 3) Pair students with industrial internship parterners. Over Summer 2022 will be the first internships in the program 4) Recruitment for the next FUEL class (AY 22-23) has started for Spring 2022

            Publications


              Progress 05/01/20 to 04/30/21

              Outputs
              Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:Due to COVID-19 limitations on undergraduates in research laboratories, the PD and co-PD's concluded that it was best to delay the start of this project to Spring 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Due to COVID 19, the FUEL Scholar Program was delayed, and Fall 2021 will be the first UMass FUEL Scholar group in the program. Fall 2021 1) FUEL Scholars will be paired with faculty to begin laboratory research 2) Monthly FUEL Scholar Mentoring Meetings will be held to focus upon professional skills Spring 2022: 1) AY 21-22 FUEL Scholars will continue laboratory research and be paired with industrial internships 2) AY 22-23 FUEL Scholars will be selected Summer 2022 1) Students will participate in industrial internships

              Impacts
              What was accomplished under these goals? Due to COVID-19 limitations on undergraduates in research laboratories, the PD and co-PD's concluded that it was best to delay the start of this project to Spring 2021. We are currently completing Objective 1 Recruit and pair students with faculty for the first UMass FUEL Scholar cohorts. Tasks during Spring 2021: 1) Planning meeting with industrial sponsors to discuss program and selection criteria for UMass FUEL scholars 2) Selection of UMass FUEL Scholars for the academic year (AY) 21-22, based upon academics, research interests, interpersonal skills, and applicant diversity.

              Publications