Kaitlyn Casulli on Salmonella and Dry Roasting Peanuts

This week on The Sci-Files, Chelsie and Danny interview Kaitlyn Casulli.

Kaitlyn is a third-year Ph.D. student in Biosystems Engineering. Prior to coming to MSU, she received her Bachelor of Science in Food Science at North Carolina State University. Her dissertation focuses on relating heat and mass transfer kinetics to microbial inactivation during dry roasting, using peanuts as a case study. She is currently developing a model to simulate Salmonella inactivation on shelled peanuts in a flat-bed roaster, with a goal of relating the predicted inactivation to salmonellosis risk in roasted products. Eventually, she hopes to continue her research in risk modeling and process validation either as a university professor or as a consultant.
Kaitlyn also serves as the treasurer for the Council of Graduate Students (COGS). Before becoming treasurer, she served as her department’s COGS representative for two years, during which she was chair of the mental health committee, which organized MSU’s first-ever celebration of World Suicide Prevention Day. She has also served on a number of university committees tasked with mental health reform and supporting students with disabilities.

If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter @SciFiles89FM and on Facebook!