New Board Members 2022/23

As always in May, E3S organised its annual Symposium and General Assembly to take stock of the past year and set new goals for the year to come. During the general assembly, the board was also reviewed, saying goodbye to some trusted members and welcoming some new ones.

Warm thanks to outgoing members:

Erminio Monteleone, Italian Sensory Science Society (SISS) (Italy);

Carolina Chaya, Spanish Professionals Association of Sensory Science (AEPAS) (Spain);

Julien Delarue, Société Française d’Analyse Sensorielle (SFAS) (France);

Sinead McCarthy, Sensory Food Network Ireland (Ireland)

And congratulations to the new board:

Prof. Paula Varela, Norwegian University of life Sciences, Norway, Norwegian Sensory Association (SSG), Chair

Professor Paula Varela is Food Engineer from Universidad de la República (Uruguay) and has a PhD from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain). She is Senior Researcher in Sensory and Consumer Sciences at Nofima and Professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Her current areas of interest include methodological aspects of research with special populations (children, elderly, food sub-cultures) at the light of societal issues related to food behaviour, and how to support consumer transition to healthier and more sustainable diets.

Paula is an E3S member since 2019 and E3S chair since 2021.

Betina Piqueras Fiszman, Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Sensory Profgroup (MOA), Vice Chair

Betina Piqueras Fiszman is a Associate Professor in the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour group at Wageningen University. Betina’s research focuses on the exploration of new ways to understand consumers’ food preferences and motivations, both explicit and implicit. Betina investigates these processes by looking into relationships between the sensory characteristics of the product, consumer traits, cognitive and contextual factors, and their combined effect on perception, behaviour, and memorability.

Betina is an E3S member since 2019 and E3S vice chair since 2021.

Sara Spinelli, University of Florence (Italy), Italian Sensory Science Society (SISS), (Treasurer)

Sara Spinelli is a researcher at the University of Florence qualified as Associate Professor and Full Professor in Food Science and Technology. Her main research interests include the role of emotions, personality traits and sensitivity to tastes in food preferences and perception including in vulnerable populations (children; patients undergoing chemotherapy), product innovation, gender/sex and text analysis in food experience. On these topics she authored several scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and invited book chapters. In 2019 she was awarded with the Food Quality and Preference Award – Contributions from a researcher of the future.

Rebecca Ford, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom), UK IFST Sensory Science Group

Dr Rebecca Ford’s multidisciplinary research is focused on understanding multi-sensory flavour perception, phenotypic and genotypic variations in sensory perception. She also utilises digital technologies to explore consumer behaviour and sustainable diets. Her previous research has investigated the impact of genetic and phenotypic variations on perception, cortical processing and food choice, allowing impactful research to explore effective sugar, fat and alcohol reduction strategies. Research utilising digital technologies has explored the use of Virtual Reality to create relevant food consumption contexts when investigating consumer behaviour. Becki has experience consulting, advising and developing sensory capabilities for global food and beverage companies.

Rebecca is an E3S member since 2019.

Annette Bongartz, Institute of Food and Beverage Innovation (ILGI), Switzerland, IG Sensorik

Annette is head of the “Food Perception” Group / Lecturer. Her main activities are teaching Food Sensory Science, Statistics, Consumer and Nutritional Behaviour, she is the head of an accredited laboratory in Consumer Tasting and Sensory profiling of food and beverage, she is also the head of the Swiss Olive Oil Panel (SOP), recognized by IOC. Annette organize training courses concerning food sensory and consumer research. She is a member of Swiss Association of Food Sciences and Technology, coordinating the Sensory Science Group.

Form 2022 Annette is part of the European Sensory Science Society.

Barbara Vad Andersen, Aarhus University (Denmark), Danish Sensory Society (D2S)

Barbara Vad Andersen is Tenure Track Assistant Professor from Aarhus University, Department of Food Science, Team Food Quality Perception & Society, where she leads the groups research theme on ‘Appetite & Eating Behaviour’. She holds a master in Human Nutrition from Copenhagen University, where she focused on food preference formation, and a PhD in Sensory & Consumer Science from The National Food Institute of Denmark, 2015, focusing on Food Satisfaction. She utilizes a multidisciplinary approach integrating sensory & consumer science with behavioural psychology, pedagogy and cross-cultural research at the very applicable end of the research spectrum, and neuroscience and endocrinology at the fundamental end. Besides her research career, Barbara manages the Sino-Danish MSc Programme on ‘International Food Quality & Health’, and she has been part of the national Danish Sensory Society board (D2S) since 2017.

Dirk Minker, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sensorik(DGSens)

After graduating with a PhD in chemistry, Dirk joined a global FMCG company in 1995 and since then, occupied many different roles during his 26 years in the company. In sensory area, Dirk started out as a panellist and later realised that he could make huge difference. His role as a sensory panellist therefore evolved into becoming the Global Sensory Manager / Sensory Principal in the end. Outside of being employed full time, he was an active member of the German DIN & international ISO Committees “Sensory” until 2020.

Dirk Minker was also the co-founder and board member of the German Sensory Association (DSens e.V.) since 2010 and was elected as their chairman in 2016.

Click here to see the new board 2022-23