My group is interested in the human-food interface, and how food composition and structure affects human perception and food choice, particularly aroma and flavor. We combine human sensory and consumer science with analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and multivariate statistics, to elucidate the impact of production, processing, storage, and presentation on perception. We are also interested in improving flavor of fruits and vegetables by linking sensory science to the breeding process more effectively. We apply these methods also to non-food samples.
Interested students usually start working alongside a graduate student to gain the necessary skills, before they develop their own research projects.
Depending on their interests, students may start working in our group as early as in their freshman year. Most successfull students are able to dedicate 2-3 3-hour blocks per week. Specific expectations depend on student's interests, available time, and goals. For students enrolled in research credits, the mentor will meet every 2 weeks for 1 hour to discuss progress, answer questions, review collected data, and plan next steps.
Please contact Dr. Hopfer and provide a brief description of your research interests, why you would like to work with us, and what your goals of this experience are.