Food Protection Trends - January/February 2021 - 120

Our Experiences (continued)

I am incredibly grateful for being a recipient of the Student Travel Scholarship to attend IAFP 2020, A Virtual Annual
Meeting. Despite all the modifications caused by COVID-19, the meeting was amazing and a wonderful opportunity for
me.
This was my first time attending a meeting like this. I can say that it gave me the opportunity to attend many symposia,
roundtable discussions, and technical sessions. Having the chance to present abstracts from my studies during the poster
session was also incredible.
I found it interesting to know the studies developed by scientists from various countries. Moreover, I could participate
in the event, " Meet Your Favorite Food Scientist, " which allowed me to meet and visit with researchers and professionals
in the food industry from many countries around the world. This experience will certainly help and inspire me in my choice
for a research area for graduate school. As an undergraduate student, this meeting was certainly unique and further
strengthened my knowledge and interest in food safety. I am excited to attend IAFP 2021 and will certainly encourage
colleagues to participate as well.

Thiago Sugizaki
dos Santos

University of São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil

This year, I was fortunate to be able to attend IAFP 2020, A Virtual Annual Meeting by receiving an IAFP Student
Travel Scholarship. I would like to thank the IAFP Foundation and the entire IAFP team for allowing me to participate in
this enriching event. This was my first experience at an international scientific meeting, so it was especially important for
me to participate, despite not being able to do so in Cleveland, Ohio.
The dedicated IAFP Staff took on a major challenge in such a short period of time, namely to reorganize and transform the Annual Meeting to be able to take place online. The quality and excellence of the sessions were evident from the
opening of the event, thanks to the inspiring presentation by this year's Ivan Parkin Lecturer, Caroline Smith DeWaal.
I was impressed with the variety of symposia, roundtables, and technical sessions presented. Whether it was in my
research field or in areas in which I was less familiar, it was difficult for me to choose which one I would listen to first. The
virtual aspect of the meeting was therefore an advantage in this situation, since I didn't have to make the heartbreaking
choice to choose between presentations. This benefit allowed me to listen and participate in the roundtable discussions
live and subsequently to immerse myself in the symposia and technical sessions.
After three days of presentations, I still had a lot of sessions to listen to, which I was able to do very easily. Of course,
I was not able to experience the large " family reunion " climate that I have heard so much about, but I did notice it through
Mathilde Trudel-Ferland the general sessions and the roundtables, as well as the presence of the participants during chats. Also, I really liked that
Université Laval
the poster presenters had the opportunity to make a short video explaining their work as it greatly contributed to the feelQuebec, Canada
ing that these were more personal presentations. I loved getting lost in the abundance of enthralling content, and it only
amplified my desire to participate in the next edition of the event. In the meantime, I continue to browse through the posters and presentations, learning
more every day in areas that I haven't had the chance to study yet.
Once again, I would like to thank IAFP, who allowed me to participate in this major event. I am looking forward to participating at IAFP 2021 in
Phoenix, Arizona.

Ingrid Zamora

The University of Sydney
Sydney, Australia

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I am grateful for the opportunity to be selected for the 2020 Student Travel Scholarship. I would like to extend my
thanks for all the hard work the IAFP Staff has done in bringing such a large conference event online during such difficult
times.
Despite the differences in time zones, I was glad to log in and view the pre-recorded presentations online. In
particular, I learned much from the symposium about effectively communicating food safety to workers within the food
industry, and presentations from other research groups about improving uptake by communicating food safety across
different languages. I also found the symposium and presentations regarding quantitative microbial risk assessments
very informative, especially how we can still utilize the outcomes using imperfect data in fresh produce QMRA, and the
methodology involved in risk ranking across different food categories. This made me realize there is so much more to
learn, and it is inspirational that I will be a part of an industry that will strive to expand food safety education to workers
and to the wider public.
I have definitely gained valuable knowledge and different perspectives in tackling food safety from different food
safety professionals. This information will prove useful as I transition from lab-based research to my hopes of a future
career in management and/or implementing food safety systems and culture within the fresh produce industry.
If international travel resumes by July 2021, I am eagerly looking forward to attending IAFP 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona!

Food Protection Trends January/February

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2021

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