(by Aimee Lyn Brown) There's a lot more going on in your bread than meets the eye. You'd never know it to look, but in all sorts of foods from bread and beer to cheese and wine, microscopic dramas are unfolding as tiny bacteria are born, reproduce, and die. At OSU, student and faculty research in the College of Agricultural Sciences focuses on the art and science of fermentation, and provides new insight into the processes behind some of society's most beloved foods. (Photo credits: Tiffany Woods)
Andrew Ross is a scientist who teaches food chemistry of cereals
Behind all of our foods there is science. Plants turn sun into energy to produce fruits and vegetables, farmers create specialty feed mixes that provide dairy cows with a diet that positively impacts milk nutrition and production, yeast and bacteria break down nutrients at varying rates creating different taste, flavor and texture profiles in breads and yogurts. Throughout the College, there are researchers dedicated to studying, and teaching about, these processes, so that we all may better increase our understanding of the food we eat, and the ecosystems in which we live.
"You just add a lump of old slightly smelly, little bit tart dough into new flour and water and it turns into bread. There's a fascination with the fermentation process that does not seem to lose its novelty!" -- Andrew Ross
Listen as Andrew Ross speaks more about the art and science of making bread
Our teachers are learners
Andrew Ross is the 2012 American Association of Cereal Chemists International Excellence in Teaching award winner.
Faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences continue their own educations even as they teach the next generation of great researchers scientists. This dedication to learning is seen in the number of classes, conferences, and workshops that many of your professors and instructors participate in annually. Their continued dedication to their own learning transfers into your classes in the form of discussions on new research, advancements in technology and up-to-date explorations of classic topics.
