News

JUNE 2025 
  • A new paper on the sustainability analysis of non-thermal food processing technology has been published!     
  • Thanks to Buhler for hosting us at the Food Application Center in Minneapolis! Fantastic tour!  
  • Millena presented her work on life-cycle sustainabiltiy assessment (LCSA) at the 2025 ISSST. Great work!
May 2025 
  • New paper on plasma application in food preservation published! Check out here. 
  • End-of-semester group dinner to celebrate a productive and rewarding semester!
  • Congratulations to Robert for successfully defending his thesis!                                
APRIL 2025 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘Sustainable agri-food systems’ in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Case Western Reserve University. 
  • Seung Hyun was awarded the 2025 FBNS Graduate Scholarship – Robert H. Hartman Graduate Endowment and FSC Travel Award Scholarship. Congratulations, Seung Hyun!
  • Ajinkya and Seung Hyun presented their research at the 2025 Graduate Student Research Symposium. Great job! 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘LCA/TEA of alternative proteins’ at UNC-Chapel Hill.  
MARCH 2025 
  • We are excited to continue working with Alamance Foods on the phase 2 sustainability project! 
  • Dr. Yang delivered guest lectures on LCA and TEA of sustainable proteins for the Industry and Systems Engineering course at NC State. 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘Sustainability assessment of food processing’ at the USDA Multi-institute seminar series.                                                       
FEBRUARY 2025 
  • Applications are open for the NC State Sustainable Protein Undergraduate Research Scholars (SPURS) program. Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are encouraged to apply by March 1st.  SPURS Program Flyer 2025                                                       
JANUARY 2025 
  • We are excited to collaborate with the Food Microbiology group on a newly funded NC Agricultural Foundation project. 
DECEMBER 2024 
  • HAPPY HOLIDAYS!                                                                                                                                   
  • New paper on biodiesel production published! Check out here. 
  • Seung Hyun and Dr. Yang were selected as part of the 2025 cohort of NC State’s KIETS Climate Leaders Program. 
NOVEMBER 2024 
  • The Food Sustainability Group is one of the campus’s Certified Sustainable Labs. Thanks to Seung Hyun for leading the efforts!
OCTOBER 2024 
  • Ajinkya presented ‘Strategies to improve animal-sources food’ at the 2024 IPAC Fall meeting.  
  • The Food Sustainability Group received funding support from the Department of Energy to explore the costs and environmental impacts of waste utilization pathways – integrated biogas upgrading and carbon capture and sequestration. 
SePTEMBER 2024 
AUGUST 2024 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘LCA and cost analysis of non-thermal food technologies’ at CoFE. 
  • Dr. Yang co-instructed the LCA/TEA pre-conference workshop at the 16th Conference of Food Engineering (CoFE) in Seattle. 
  • Two new graduate students: Millena Cruz (Ph.D) and Seung Hyun Yoo (M.S.) joined the Food Sustainability Group. Welcome!
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘Advancing sustainability in dairy industry’ at the 2024 Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center (SDFRC) annual meeting.  
JULY 2024 
  • The Food Sustainability Group received funding support from the USDA NIFA to perform the life-cycle sustainability assessment of alternative proteins. 
  • Robert presented his findings on food loss and waste at IFT FIRST 2024 and received great feedback!
  • We attended IFT FIRST 2024 in Chicago and had a great time!                                         
JUNE 2024 
MAY 2024 
  • Congratulations to Ajinkya for winning the ‘People’s Choice’ poster award at the SAFTS! 
  • The Sustainable Agri-Food Technology Summit (SAFTS) has brought a passionate group of participants to advancing sustainability in agri-food systems. The workshop featured a series of insightful presentations and discussions on diverse topics around emerging agri-food techs.                                                                 
  • The Food Sustainability Group was funded by the Center of Advanced Processing and Packaging Studies (CAPPS) to perform a comparative sustainability analysis of food waste valorization pathways. 
april 2024
  • Ajinkya was awarded the 2024 FBNS Graduate Scholarship – Robert H. Hartman Graduate Endowment. Congratulations, Ajinkya! 
  • Robert and Ajinkya presented the LCA/TEA projects to the IPAC members and received great feedback. Way to go!     
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘Sustainability assessment of food systems’ at the Industry Partners Advisory Council (IPAC) meeting.  
  • Register by April 30th for the Sustainable Agri-Food Technology Summit (SAFTS) and secure your spot! We are also calling on students and postdocs at NC State to showcase your great work! More details can be found: go.ncsu.edu/safts
February 2024
  • Registration is open for the Sustainable Agri-Food Technology Summit (SAFTS)! We aim to bring together scientists, industry experts, advocates, and policymakers to explore diverse perspectives on sustainability, share real-world innovations, and identify collaborative opportunities for the future!

January 2024
  • Ajinkya Atkare joined the Food Sustainability Group as an MS student. Welcome aboard, Ajinkya!  
DECEMBER 2023
  • The Food Sustainability Group received funding support to explore the environmental impacts of animal-sourced food via nutrition-based LCA (nLCA). 
OCTOBER 2023
  • Call for papers: Advance in Bioprocessing Design for Platform Chemicals and Biofuels Innovations in Frontiers in Industrial Microbiology. We welcome research topics in bioprocessing design, biomass valorization, and novel process modeling. Submission deadline: March 31st, 2024.  
  • The Food Sustainability Group presented the poster entitled ‘Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and cost analysis among non-thermal food technologies‘ at the 2023 IFT-EFFoST International Nonthermal Processing Workshop in Minneapolis. 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘LCA and TEA in food processing’ at the University of Idaho (virtual seminar). 
SEPTEMBER 2023
AUGUST 2023
  • Robert Wine joined the Food Sustainability Group as an MS student. Welcome aboard, Robert!  
July 2023
  • The Food Sustainability Group attended IFT FIRST 2023 in Chicago. 
  • Dr. Yang presented ‘Comparing in planta accumulation with microbial routes to set targets for a cost-competitive bioeconomy’ on 2023 ASABE Circular Bioeconomy System (CBS) day.  
June 2023
  • The Food Sustainability Group attended the 30th International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology – ISSST 2023. 
May 2023
April 2023
  • Dr. Yang was invited as the panelist on the NC Biotech Animal Health & Nutrition Sustainability Panel. 
March 2023
  • Dr. Yang gave a guest lecture on ‘Technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) of bioprocessing’ at the Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. 
February 2023