Rosalee Hellberg, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Program Director for the Food Science Program at Chapman University. She teaches several courses, including Food Fraud, Food Microbiology, and Food Industry Tour. Dr. Hellberg received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University, where she studied seafood safety and fish mislabeling. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the FDA, working on the development and optimization of DNA-based methods for the detection of food pathogens and food mislabeling. Dr. Hellberg received the 2024-2025 Award in Mentorship of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity from Chapman University and the 2025-2027 Wang-Fradkin Senior Professorship Award, which recognizes exceptional merit in scholarly and creative activity and is the highest award for research given at Chapman University. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, volunteering, and spending time with her family.
Ghana Tirpude is a Research Associate in the Food Protection Lab. She completed her M.S. in Food Science at Chapman University and her MA in Marketing and Innovation from Anglia Ruskin University, UK. She worked as a Business Consultant specializing in Branding and Organizational Management for over 10 years. At Chapman University, her research focuses on studying the applications of Contamination Sanitation Inspection and Disinfection (CSI-D) system to inactivate food pathogens on various food contact surfaces. In her free time, she volunteers at her family’s NGO in India. She also enjoys cooking, hosting dinner parties, and going on long drives and walks to unwind.
Gary Maloncon is a graduate student at Chapman University working towards his M.S. in Food Science. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology with an emphasis in Molecular Biology also from Chapman University. His thesis is focused on the use of the CSID system for the inactivation of Listeria on food contact surfaces. In his free time, he enjoys family time, hiking, music, watching movies/anime, and learning naval history.
Tatiana Padgett is a graduate student pursuing her M.S. in Food Science at Chapman University. She received her B.S. From California State University, Long Beach in Nutrition and Dietetics with a minor in Food Science. Her research is focused on chemical and DNA-based methods of authentication for ginseng supplements. In her free time, she enjoys being active through hiking and long walks in nature, martial arts, kayaking, dancing, and nail art for some creativity.
Celina Garcia is a graduate student at Chapman University pursuing her M.S. in Food Science. She completed her B.S. in Nutritional Science with an emphasis in Food Science from California State University, Los Angeles. Her research will focus on the DNA-based identification of rockfish species. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, baking, listening to live music, trying new foods, and spending time with friends and family.
Chloe Castanon is an undergraduate student pursuing her BS in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry at Chapman University. Her research focuses on optimizing methods of species identification in commercial canned tuna products. In her free time she enjoys playing tennis with friends and painting.
Akshay Khetrapal is an undergraduate student studying Biology at Chapman University. His research focuses on optimizing methods of species identification in commercial canned tuna products. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and hiking.
Grace Cho is an undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Chapman University. Her research focuses on inactivating Salmonella on Food Contact Surfaces using the Contamination Sanitization Inspection-Disinfection (CSI-D) System. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano.
Michael Hutchings is an undergraduate student majoring in Applied Human physiology and minoring in nutrition with dreams of attending dental school in the future. His research focuses on comparing and evaluating PCR protocols for identification in fish species. On his free time, Michael enjoys exercising, fishing, and hanging out with friends.