Student Organizers from US academic institutions

This event was spun out of a group of graduate and undergraduate students at different schools across the US that are invested in transforming the food and agriculture industry to protect our planet. Together we have put together this event to grow the community of students interested in the space and lower the barrier for students of all backgrounds to step into the industry.

Jasmin Kern is a German-American citizen who grew up in Frankfurt, Germany and moved to Boston for her undergraduate studies at MIT. Through her love for food and fascination with chemistry, she switched her studies from physics to chemistry with a focus on Cellular Agriculture. In 2019, she co-founded EZHealth, a student organization focused on giving MIT students access to easy recipes, cooking classes, and skills to build balanced meals with limited  kitchen space and ingredients. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic she worked with four other MIT students to build Cell Ag @ MIT, a student organization working to provide educational, research, and professional development opportunities in the Cell Ag industry for students. Through Cell Ag @ MIT and connections to Sloan Food & Ag, she met students across the US interested in building a network for students interested in the Sustainable Food industry. This launched the ideation of Cultivate Tomorrow, the first US hackathon in the cellular agriculture space.In her professional career, she was Tender Food’s first hire and worked as an R&D intern for 9 months. Her experience at Tender Food substantiated and deepened her interest in the field. In the summer of 2021 she worked as a Materials & Texture R&D intern at Impossible Foods, and got to experience a food tech company at a much later stage of development. Her favorite thing about Cell Ag, is the innovative, dedicated, and welcoming people all working towards a shared mission. In her free-time she enjoys cooking with friends, writing, playing piano, and biking.

Shalmali Gadgil 

Hi! My name is Shalmali and I am originally from Tokyo. I moved to Scotland for my undergraduate degree, where I am currently a junior at the University of Aberdeen, studying Biotechnology with Applied Molecular Biology. I am extremely interested in the intersection between sustainable food tech and molecular biology, and cellular agriculture perfectly encompasses that for me. I have always wanted to be involved in the food industry in some way (I wanted to be a chef for a long time!), but my scientific interests began when I read about the first lab-grown chicken nugget, after which I dove deep into the rabbit hole of Alt. Food Technology, and have loved it ever since! I think there is huge potential for this industry to grow in Scotland, and I have taken the first steps towards getting more students involved by starting an Alt. Protein chapter at Aberdeen. I am really excited to be a part of Cultivate and am looking forward to connecting with other like-minded individuals, growing and learning within the same cause! In my free time I enjoy cooking, going to the gym, and singing.

Ana Paula Kitos Vasconcelos

Ana Paula Kitos Vasconcelos was born in Australia and grew up in the Bay Area, California. She became interested in the intersection of food and sustainability in high school when she learned about animal agriculture and its impact on the environment. In 2018, Ana Paula volunteered at the Cultured Meat Symposium and became inspired by the positive implications that cellular agriculture has for animals and the environment. In 2021, she graduated with a BS in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of California Santa Cruz. During her undergraduate degree, she conducted organic and polymer chemistry research both in the lab of Dr Rebecca Braslau as well as through two summer internships at Zymergen, Inc. She is now pursuing a PhD in organic materials and polymer chemistry at the University of Washington, researching 3D printable protein-based materials in the lab of Dr Alshakim Nelson. In her free time, Ana Paula enjoys rock climbing, foraging edible wild foods, and hiking the beautiful mountains of the Pacific Northwest.

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