Cultivating Careers in Alternative Proteins Podcast

Jacqueline Samson is a Senior Engineer at The Better Meat Co., a B2B fermentation-based mycoprotein startup in Sacramento, California. She studied Chemical Engineering at Louisiana State University and previously worked for Evonik, a specialty chemicals company. Outside of work, Jacqueline enjoys hiking and biking, reading, and playing soccer. Her advice is to don’t let the lack of a job posting defer you from reaching outReach out to The Better Meat Co. at [email protected] This episo...

Sofia Katzin has been working as the Research Development Quality Assurance Manager for Arvela, a black soldier fly producer in Australia. She is passionate about sustainable solutions for the protein industry and waste management sector. Sofia has developed processes, researched roadmaps, managed internal quality programs, and led small teams of scientists and operators. She has expertise in insect nutrition, diet formulation, and breeding performance so if other businesses are looking to im...

Parendi Birdie has thrived in startups for the past 15 years and is currently building her fourth, Asentia. Parendi has been at the forefront of the alternative protein industry since 2013. She earned a degree in biochemistry from the University of Kansas, with the goal of advancing the sector. She then helped build two leading alternative protein companies from the ground up: GOOD Meat and Mission Barns. Throughout her career, Parendi has established and led multiple functions, including R&a...

Noga Golan is the Founder and Managing Director of Alt Protein Careers, a company that provides an industry job board, career resources, career coaching, and recruiting services to the alt protein industry. She is also the co-founder of Alt Protein Israel. Noga has an MBA from Stanford University and previously worked in private equity investing. Noga is passionate about the alternative protein industry and even has her own pet chicken named Silkie. Noga’s advice is to do informational interv...

Noa Weiss is an AI and machine learning consultant and the founder of GreenProtein AI, a non-profit initiative by Food System Innovations leveraging advanced AI technology to optimize plant-based meat production through the modeling of the extrusion process. She has 13 years of experience in the field of data science and machine learning, worked for corporates such as PayPal and unicorns such as Armis Security, and has a Bachelor's degree in Computational Cognitive Science and Psychology and ...

Dr. Bryan Quoc Le is a food scientist, food industry consultant, and author of the book 150 Food Science Questions Answered. He earned his PhD in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he studied the effect of plant-based flavors on mammalian tissues. He has served as a technical consultant for companies and organizations in the food industry, such as TurtleTree, Black Sheep Foods, Blue Diamond, DecoPac, and The Good Food Institute. Bryan's advice to job seekers is to b...

Florine Kremer is a researcher of alternative proteins at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. She has a bachelor’s degree in Consumer Behaviour and a masters in Sustainable Food Consumption, both at Wageningen University. With a minor in Climate Change and an internship in Marine Biology in Kenya, she has a very diverse background. She now works in applied research for the Consumer Behaviour department, where her work varies from monitoring protein intake on a national scal...

George Stiffman, AKA the Tofu Guy, is a tofu evangelist and author of the book, Broken Cuisine. Through his travels in China, where he worked in Buddhist restaurant kitchens, apprenticed under a fifth generation tofu master, studied at a Chinese university, spoke at food industry conferences, and ate across numerous cities, towns, and villages, he was able to learn more about the various different types of tofu (yes, there are more varieties of tofu beyond silken, soft, firm, and extra firm)....

Brenna Taylor is the Senior Supply Chain and Logistics Manager at Rebellyous Foods, a plant-based chicken startup based out of Seattle. Her role there has evolved from Operations Coordinator to Supply Chain Manager to her current position. Prior to working at Rebellyous Foods, Brenna was the Corporate Campaigns Coordinator for The Humane League. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with a Minor in Political Science from Old Dominion University and an MBA with a focus on supply chain fro...

Rebecca Palmer is the Chief Marketing Officer at Terra Bioindustries, a Canadian based company that upcycles spent grain to make plant-based protein ingredients and sugar feedstocks for fermentation. She has a masters in biotechnology and a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (with a specialization in plant science), both from the University of Guelph. In 2021, Rebecca and her partner won the Proteus Innovation Competition, where over a 4 month period, they developed an abstract, a busin...