College of Agriculture & Natural Resources School of Packaging

Bio:

Karen graduated from Chemical Engineering, with an emphasis in food technology in 2011, and then she worked as a food processing supervisor for one year. She completed her master's degree in Polymeric Materials in the Materials Department at Yucatan's Center for Scientific Research in Merida Yucatan, Mexico in 2015. She was a visiting research scholar during the summer in 2016 at School of Packaging during this period she worked on two different projects: the first one was a study of the shelf life of fresh cut lettuce packaged in PLA, PLA with Nano Cellulose, and standard films; the second project consisted in developing an antimicrobial pouch made of polyethylene terephthalate coated with a UV curable formulation containing 2E-Hexenal and study its effects on the quality of blueberry fruit. Currently, she is at the School of Packaging doing a second Visiting Research Scholar working in measuring the release of Formic Acid from a miticide product for Varroa control to find a packaging option.

Research Interest:

Biodegradable packaging, sustainable bio-composites from renewable resources, active packaging for fresh product.