Current Members
Sam Alcaine
Returning to Cornell in the summer of 2016, Sam joined the Food Science department as an assistant professor of dairy fermentations. His career has involved colluding with yeast to make strange beers, wrangling bad bacteria out of ice cream, and tutoring phage-bots to spot microbial miscreants. With ARG he seeks to ferment fun and innovation in dairy research and support dairy processing and safety through his extension programs. In his free time he is an Uber driver for his kids, home project builder for his wife, and table reservation specialist for friends. If you have questions about the research, joining the lab, or collaborations, reach out to him at alcaine@cornell.edu
Tim DeMarsh
Tim DeMarsh has been working for five years as a Lab Technician in the Alcaine Lab. He received a B.S. in biotechnology from SUNY Cobleskill in 2015. Before joining the Alcaine Lab, he worked for a year in the Ley Lab, a gut microbiome research lab in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University. Tim currently conducts research regarding the fermentation of acid whey and related dairy co-products. He has been a coauthor on many of the lab’s published papers.
Dana deRiancho
Dana is a Lab Technician in ARG. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2015 and went on to work as a chef in Austin, Texas. There, she discovered her interest in food preservation and began developing recipes utilizing the powers of sourdough and lacto-fermentation. She followed this passion and earned a B.S. in food science from Louisiana State University in 2020. Dana’s research background concentrates in food microbiology, cheesemaking, and supporting the efforts of local dairy producers in NY state. In her free time, she enjoys foraging, baking, and spending time with her rescue dog Fred.
Margarita Valdiviezo
Margarita is a Ph.D. student in the Alcaine Research Group. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Food Engineering from La Molina National University (Lima, Peru) and two master’s degrees in Food Technology and Biotechnology, and Brewing Science and Beverage Technology from the Technical University of Munich (Germany). During her graduate studies, she worked as research assistant at the International Beverage Research Center Weihenstephan (Germany). Her industry experience includes the companies Casa Montes (Argentina), Danone (DACH Headquarters) and Post Holdings (Germany) in the divisions of quality assurance, quality management, and product development, respectively. Her current research focuses on developing biotechnological strategies to reduce sporeforming bacteria in organic dairy products. These strategies involve the use of enzymes, protective cultures, and bacteriophages to improve the quality and extend the product shelf life.
Meghan McGillin
Meghan McGillin is the kind of food scientist who is equally comfortable in a research lab, artist studio, or food processing plant. In terms of research, she is dedicated to developing creative microbial solutions for increasingly pertinent issues, such as alternatives to antibiotics and high-pressure-processing (HPP). Beyond the lab, she has a strong desire to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the public’s understanding, with the intention of inspiring the next generation of food scientists. Identifying as an artist years before adorning the lab coat, Meg is a major advocate for the use of art as a tool to convey science. When she’s not consumed by microbiology, Meghan enjoys blogging on her rock n roll food science blog, foodsci.wtf, going on long rollerblades and surrounding herself with plants.
Paola Gamboa
Paola Gamboa is an M.S. student in the Alcaine Research Group. She obtained her B.S. in Food Engineering from the University of Costa Rica, where she was an undergraduate research assistant, studying spore-forming spoilage bacteria in orange juice. After finishing her undergraduate studies, she worked as a research and development laboratory analyst in the baking industry. Thus, for her graduate studies, she wanted to merge her microbiology knowledge with her interest in new product development, so her current research focuses on new alternatives to ferment milk, to develop sustainable and novel dairy products. She likes spending her free time with her family and baking, hiking, and playing music.
Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy is a Ph.D. student in the Alcaine Lab Group with a focus on microbiology and dairy proteins. He believes strongly in efficacy and translating research into action. He hopes his research can lead to innovation and increased sustainability in the dairy product space. Kevin received his bachelor’s from The Pennsylvania State University in Biochemistry and his master’s from the University of Maine in Food Science and Human Nutrition. Additionally, he has experience working in pharmaceutical research and development and the biotech industry. When not in the lab you can find him outside, running, hiking, or fishing throughout New York state.
Dean Hauser
Dean Hauser is a PhD student in the Alcaine Research Group whose research focuses on adding value to various dairy waste streams via optimized fermentations, and quantifying the environmental impacts of such upcycled product systems. Prior to starting his graduate program at Cornell, Dean worked as a scientist on the global ingredient research team at Mondelez International where he conducted pre-development research on sugar and calorie reduction technologies, and led and participated in projects focused on upcycled ingredients and developing sustainable design tools for product development; he also worked as an intern at E&J Gallo winery where he looked into different strategies to add value to grape pomace. Dean completed his MS in Food Science at Oregon State University in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Tom Shellhammer, where his thesis focused on strategies for more efficient use of hops in brewing, with a specific emphasis on upcycling hop material and assessing the environmental impact of hop production. Dean completed his BS in food science in 2017 at Cornell University. For more information, check out Dean’s LinkedIn and ResearchGate profiles.
Previous Members:
Viviana Rivera Flores- P.h.D. 2023
Xingrui Fan- B.S. 2023
Matthew Pataki- M.F.S. 2023
Yashashree Bhagat- M.F.S. 2023
Bihongee Sarkar- M.F.S. 2022
Zishan (Amber) He- M.F.S. 2022
Lucas Wise- M.S. 2022
Keqin He- M.S. 2022
Kate Jencarelli- M.S. 2022
Marie Lawton- Ph.D. 2021
Brenna Flynn – M.S. 2021
Rossie Luo – M.P.S. 2021
Pablo Torres – M.P.S. 2021
Ghadeer Makki – M.S. 2019
Justin Marcus – M.P.S. 2019
Joseph “JB” Tarnate – M.P.S. 2019
Sarah Kozak-Weaver – Lab Technician
Sofia Lara – M.S. 2018
Jeffrey Tokman – M.S. 2018