Miquela graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Animal Science, and is now a member of the inaugural Master of Public Health class at Cornell. The dairy industry has been a part of Miquela’s life ever since she was baby, as she grew up on a dairy farm with her six siblings in Delaware County, New York. Her parents, now with her three brothers, continue to operate Del-Rose Farm, the same farm that she grew up doing daily chores on. Whenever she has time, she goes home to lend a hand with milking the cows or feeding the calves.

Miquela is the lab technician working on the Voluntary Shelf Life program, and has found it an extremely rewarding experience. She loves being able to see this aspect of milk’s journey from farm to consumer.  Her background and education has made her very aware of the procedures for milk quality on the farm, but her work in this program has exposed her to procedures and milk quality at the processing level.

Miquela’s focus in her MPH program is food systems.  She hopes upon completion of her Masters in 2019, she will be able to tie her agriculture background and passion for the industry with a career that will help bridge the gap between producers and consumers, including the possibility of working in policy development. She firmly believes that the health of a population is tied not only to the access to food, but also to the knowledge and understanding of how food is produced.