Audrey L. Girard, Ph.D. | Principal Investigator
Audrey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science. She obtained her B.S. in Bakery Science & Management from Kansas State University and her Ph.D. in Food Science & Technology from Texas A&M University. She is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the Cereals and Grains Association (formerly AACCI), and the American Chemical Society (ACS). When not working, Audrey enjoys running, reading, and any activity that gets her into the great outdoors.
(608) 890-4877 | algirard@wisc.edu | LinkedIn
Rachel Hutchinson, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Research Associate
Rachel obtained her B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Roberts Wesleyan College and her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Chemical Biology Path) from UW-Madison. She joined the lab as a postdoctoral researcher in February 2023. In her free time, Rachel enjoys running, reading, and playing piano.
Vanessa Soendjaja | Master’s Student
Vanessa obtained her B.S. in Food Science from UW-Madison with a certificate in Business Agriculture. She worked as an R&D technologist for two years before returning to UW-Madison to pursue her master’s degree. Vanessa joined the lab in August 2021.
Lily Lincoln | Master’s Student
Lily received her B.S. in Food Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Previously, she has had summer internships with Cargill & J.M. Smucker. She is now pursuing a masters degree and joined the lab in September 2022. In her free time she enjoys hiking, running, & reading.
Tori Budin | Master’s Student
Tori obtained her B.S. in Food Science from UW-Madison. She started her master’s (Fall 2022) directly after finishing her B.S. and worked as a Bakery RD&A Intern at Kerry during the summers of her undergrad. Tori enjoys baking in her free time and doing lots of art projects. After her master’s Tori plans on working in R&D Bakery Science.
Hailey Tang | Undergraduate Lab Assistant
Sophia Delgado | Undergraduate Lab Assistant
Previous Lab Members
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Nan Li, Ph.D. | Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 | Next step: Research Scientist @ Colgate-Palmolive | LinkedIn
Undergraduate Lab Assistants
Macy Vander Pas| Summer 2022 – Fall 2022 | Next step: Continuing student majoring in Chemistry
Steph Kishter | Summer 2022 | Next step: Continuing student majoring in Food Science
Joe French | Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 | Next step: Summer intern at TreeHouse Foods
Tori Budin | Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 | Next step: Summer intern at Kerry, and then joining our lab as an MS student!
Chloe Keaty | Summer 2021 | Next step: Continuing student majoring in Neurobiology