Dale W. Chilton

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Dale Chilton on July 2, 2016.

Dale had a 38-year career with the New Your State Department of Agriculture and Markets, first as a milk inspector and later as Dairy Equipment Specialist in the Division of Milk Control.  He became an expert in dairy equipment design, especially as it related to its cleaning and sanitizing.  He was a resource to both the industry and the college and gave freely of his knowledge.  He not only consulted with our faculty, but also participated regularly in our milk quality extension programs.

Dale was an active member of the NYS Association of Milk and Food Sanitarians (Now NYS Association for Food Protection).  He served as past president of the Central NY Sanitarians Association and Capital District Sanitarians.  He was a member of the Farm Methods Committee and served as Chair of the Environmental and Equipment Committee for many years. He was honored with the Associations two highest awards, The Gauhn Award in 1992 and the Brooks Award in 1999.

Samuel Alcaine joined the Department on January 1 as a Research Scientist and will move into an Assistant Professor of Dairy Fermentations position on July 1 with a 50% research and 50% extension appointment.  During his months as a Research Scientist, Sam is spending his days in Denmark at Chr Hansen, a Silver member of CIFS-IPP.  There, Sam is expanding his expertise in dairy cultures to better serve the dairy industry.  This faculty position is supported by the New York State Dairy Promotion Board.

Anika is the newest member of our extension team. Anika grew up on a dairy farm in Western NY and graduated from Cornell with a Food Science Degree in 2014. During her time as a student, she gained experience working with O-AT-KA Milk Products, Leprino Foods and an Italian artisanal cheese producer. Following graduation, she was trained as a manager for Hannaford Supermarkets and was responsible for the operations of a store in Albany, NY. She has taken on the role as a Regional Dairy Processing and Marketing Specialist based in Northern New York. As a member of the Harvest New York team, Anika will aid in the economic development of dairy foods manufacturing throughout her region and in New York State. By working with regulatory agencies, workforce development agencies and suppliers, information can be utilized in order to help members of the dairy foods manufacturing community reach their goals.

We are happy to welcome Carmela Beliciu to the Dairy Food Extension team.  Carmela received a BSc degree in Food Science and Engineering from Romania, with a major in Dairy Processing.

She worked as a flux manager for a dairy plant in Romania with a team of 20 people, producing a variety of dairy products and implementing the HACCP plan for the plant.

She is very excited to be back to work in her field after a few years dedicated to raising a family.

Her work will focus on coordinating production of delicious products such as the Big Red Cheddar Cheese and Greek yogurt in the Food Processing & Development Laboratory, working with business owners to facilitate their use of FPDL facilities, but also assisting in IPP-related efforts such as the upcoming Global Summit.

Carmela loves being a part of the Cornell Community and over the last years has been a volunteer in a variety of CU programs and activities. Working for the Food Science Department is an opportunity to be part of an organization she believes in.

In her spare time, Carmela loves spending time with her family, playing with her two children and enjoying the wonderful sights and events happening in and around Ithaca.

Janene Lucia joined the Department in 1979 to provide administrative support for the Dairy & Food Extension program.  She quickly became her own person, developing relationships with dairy and food industry personnel, as well as the regulatory bodies and educational institutions that supported it.

Janene over the years played a supporting role in nearly all extension activities and was instrumental in organizing multiple programs.  She also played a major role in launching the current Dairy Foods Certificate program.

In addition to her regular duties in “Maintaining the Extension Organization,” she became the longest serving Executive Secretary of the New York State Association for Food Protection, currently in her 24^th year.  (Cornell Professor Emeritus Richard P. March held the position for 23).  In September 2014, Cornell President David Skorton wrote (in Part): “I understand that you have worked with the association for decades and have contributed significantly to Cornell’s efforts to support the state’s food and dairy industries through education and training.  Thank you for all you do, Janene, I appreciate your key role in the important outreach work of the Department of Food Science.”

Janene has supplied similar support to the New York State Cheese Manufacturers’ Association, serving as Executive Secretary / Assistant Treasurer for the past 17 years.  She also currently serves on the Board of The Dairy Task Force at the New York State Fair.

While Janene will be leaving her extension position at Cornell, she will continue her industry presence as Executive Secretary of both the Cheese and Food Protection Associations, maintaining the close ties our Department has developed in the past.

It has been a pleasure having Janene as a colleague all these years and we all wish her a happy semi-retirement with husband Joe in nearby Dryden, NY.

Submitted by:  David K. Bandler & Steven C. Murphy

Coming from a small mountain town in Colorado, Clint’s first exposure to the dairy industry came in the 2010 when he was hired as an undergraduate lab assistant working in the Milk Quality Improvement Program Microbiology Laboratory. Since then, Clint has had numerous internships working for large-scale dairy processors including Leprino Foods and Kraft Foods. During a semester abroad in Parma, Italy, Clint gained experience working with various artisanal cheese producers in the Emilia-Romagna region. As an undergraduate, Clint’s research was primarily focused on the toxin profiling of Bacillus cereus group organisms. Clint is now a first year Master’s student working in the MQIP lab where he is currently conducting research on Enterobacteriaceae organisms and Yeasts/Molds in fermented dairy products.

Sarah Beno is a second year graduate student in the Food Safety Lab and the Milk Quality Improvement Program at Cornell University.  Sarah works with dairy processors in the area to develop, implement, and validate environmental sampling programs for Listeria monocytogenes.  

Dr. Julie Stafford joined the Department of Food Science and the Cornell Institute for Food Systems (CIFS) in January of this year. While Julie was born and raised in Upstate NY, she returns to the region after 25 years working in the healthcare industry in central NJ, first for a global pharmaceutical company and later as Founder and Principal of her own management consulting firm.

Julie earned her PhD at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, studying adult development and aging. She later conducted post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Rochester Medical Center. She even taught briefly in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell.

These days Julie is busy establishing the CIFS Industry Partnership Program (CIFS-IPP) and meeting with companies from near and far. Regardless of venue, you can hear Julie describing the ways in which industry can enhance their engagement with the faculty, students and facilities of Cornell University. The Land Grant Mission is alive and well and Julie believes will flourish through the CIFS-IPP, a unique public-private partnership. Please visit the website at www.ipp.cifs.cornell.edu.

To learn the dairy industry and be attuned to today’s issues, Julie attended the NYS Cheese Manufacturers conference in March and the NYS Dairy Promotion Board Meeting in April. If you watch carefully, I’m sure you will catch a glimpse of her driving the countryside searching out the dairies of distinction scattered across our beautiful countryside. Julie is thrilled to be home.