Food Protection Trends - November/December 2023 - 528

Our Experiences (continued)
It was an honor to be a recipient of the 2023 Student Travel Scholarship to attend
IAFP 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was my first conference of this size as well
as my first time in North America, so it was really a big opportunity for me. Each day,
the conference provided me with new ideas, new inspiration, new knowledge, and new
connections.
Pauline Spagnoli
Ghent University
Ghent, Belgium
The multitude of presentations on topics I found interesting was very impressive.
I really appreciated the different perspectives that were discussed. Food safety was
approached from an industry perspective, policy perspective, in developing economies,
from a sustainability perspective, and much more. This made me realize that a career in
food safety can have many different shapes and forms, which I don't think I fully realized
before to this extent. This was truly an eye opening, liberating, and inspiring insight.
I also was able to acquire specific knowledge on the research topic of my Ph.D. (food
safety culture). I had deep discussions with peers who research food safety culture as
well. We also discussed some of the struggles we experience while researching this
topic. As these struggles were similar, this was very reassuring to me and left me feeling
more confident as a researcher. Presenting one of my own studies at this conference
was a big highlight and will be a milestone in my food safety career looking back. Thanks
to all of this, I left the conference inspired, knowing how to further develop and improve
my scientific contributions.
Another highlight was the networking. It was amazing to meet the incredibly warm and welcoming IAFP organizers
and Board members, including some past presidents. I had some issues with my travels to Canada as my luggage got
lost in a flight layover, but everyone, especially Susan Smith, tried to help me in countless ways. I also had the honor
of connecting with Gary Acuff, a past president and IAFP Fellow Award recipient, who took the time to brainstorm with
me on who would be interesting for me to meet at the conference. He introduced me to several people who became
valuable connections. I also met many from academia, industry, and consulting organizations who offered opportunities
to collaborate in the future. Thanks to this one opportunity of attending IAFP 2023, several more opportunities for the
future presented themselves.
I would like to thank the entire IAFP organization for all they do. Everyone learns from each other in the open
environment that IAFP creates so well. It is really a unique experience which I hope to be part of for a long time. Thank
you for giving me this opportunity.
Sloane Stoufer
University of Massachusetts
Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
I was truly honored to receive an IAFP Student Travel Scholarship to attend the 2023
Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Attending these Annual Meetings have
always been highly rewarding experiences for me, and this year was no different. I had
the opportunity to meet with food safety students and professionals from around the
globe, including my fellow Student Travel Scholarship recipients.
Over the past year, I served as Treasurer for the Student PDG, so the 2023 Annual
Meeting marked the end of my term. As a member of the outgoing board, I helped
organize events such as the Student PDG Business Meeting, Student Luncheon, and
Student Mixer, in addition to organizing T-shirt sales for this year's meeting. The goal of
these events is to provide students opportunities to network with their fellow food safety
scientists, learn about opportunities to get involved in IAFP, and share their questions
and concerns with the board, and I believe they were highly successful. I'm immensely
proud of all the work my fellow 2022-2023 board members and I have accomplished in
the past year. But having met and worked with the 2023-2024 Student PDG Board in
Toronto, I am confident they will accomplish even more.
I also had numerous opportunities to volunteer during IAFP 2023, which I had
not done in the past. I served as a student liaison for the Constitution and Bylaws
Committee Meeting, and also helped volunteer at the IAFP Foundation Booth. It was
extremely rewarding to be able to give back to the Foundation, and I'm glad to know the
funds raised will provide opportunities for more promising students to attend next year's
Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California, which I'm already looking forward to.
(continued on next page)
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Food Protection Trends - November/December 2023

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