Meet Our Flavor Experts
Congratulations to our recent graduates!
- Yaozheng (Tess) Liu (PhD)
- Kumpol Homwongpanich (MS)
The North Carolina State University Sensory Service Center operates under the direction of Dr. MaryAnne Drake, Professor of Sensory Analysis and Flavor Chemistry and an internationally recognized dairy foods expert. Our core team includes leading sensory scientists and flavor chemists. Learn a little bit more about us and how we work tirelessly to deliver results that help our clients shine.
Flavor Experts
Dr. MaryAnne Drake
Formal Education
Washington State University, Ph.D. Food Science, 1996
Washington State University, M.S. Food Science, 1992
Central Washington University, B.S. Biology, 1990
Professional Memberships
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) – Fellow
American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) – past president
Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center (SDFRC) – director
American Cheese Society (ACS), American Chemist’s Society (ACS)
Dr. Drake, an acknowledged expert in Dairy Flavor, has been with the Sensory Service Center since 2001. Our clients love that she is highly responsive and always in touch. She enjoys doing extensive research and rapid results driven projects. She provides quality, hands on expertise as a taster and evaluator. With her amazingly experienced and discriminating palate, she can assuredly describe food products in a useful and sensitive way.
Her favorite meal is black bean soup and she enjoys collecting fine wines.
Read more about Dr. MaryAnne Drake on her NC STATE FBNS department page.
Michele Yates
Formal Education
NC State University, MS, Food Science, 1987
Western Carolina University, BS, Food and Nutrition, 1979
Professional Memberships
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)
Michele has been with the Sensory Service Center for over 30 years. As a participatory panel leader, she maintains a contract DA panel trained in the Spectrum™ method to obtain especially thorough and robust results. Michele supports each new crop of graduate students in our lab and keeps track of project details with great accuracy for our clients – all groundwork for the kind of results delivery we take pride in.
Michele is an animal lover with a menagerie of pets, including backyard chickens, and is a Jam and Jelly Judge at the State Fair. She enjoys time away in the mountains.
Graduate Students
Yaozheng (Tess) Liu (Post Doc)
Research Interests: flavor chemistry and sensory analysis methodologies
Dominic Rovai (PhD)
Research Interests: dairy processing, sensory analysis methodologies
Anita Best (PhD)
Research Interests: consumer survey methods, flavor chemistry of butter
Dylan Cadwallader (PhD)
Research Interests: GC-O, HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis of volatile compounds, migration of flavor and aromatic compounds of paperboard milk cartons
Megan Watson (PhD)
Research Interests: sensory analysis methodologies, consumer insights
Carly Nelson (MS)
Research Interests: dairy processing, butter manufacture
Chris Reusz (MS)
Research Interests: flavor chemistry, volatile analysis of foods
Brooklynn Adams (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products
Chloe Fung (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products
Drew Hargrove (MS)
Research Interests: heat stability of dairy products
Vansh Chaudhary (MS)
Research Interests: flavor chemistry of dairy products
Trevor Hanks (MS)
Research Interests: dairy processing, heat stability of dairy products
Ella Warner (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products and dairy processing
Kaleigh Quick (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products
Saloni Gupta (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy and plant based beverages
Mileah Shriner (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products
Riley Adams (MS)
Research Interests: consumer insights of dairy products