Produce Safety Alliance

Grower Training

Cornell Course

Elizabeth A. Bihn is a Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. She is currently the director of the Produce Safety Alliance and program coordinator for the National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Program. The main focus of her work is to reduce microbial risks to fresh fruits and vegetables through research and extension programs developed for and in collaboration with growers, farm workers, produce industry personnel, students, teachers, and consumers. Betsy received her B.S. from Ohio State University in zoology, M.S. from the University of Florida in horticulture, and Ph.D. from Cornell University in food science.

Don is an environmental microbiologist who has collaborated with the Cornell National Good Agricultural Practices Program for nearly a decade on water quality issues related to food safety. For the past five years, he has been an instructor of the online GAPs Produce Safety Course. As a career research scientist and educator, he has 15 years of professional research experience at Battelle Memorial Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey. Over the course of 20 years, he also has served in adjunct teaching roles at Cornell University, the Ohio State University, Auburn University, Columbus State Community College, and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. His professional experience ranges across development of conceptual models of fate and transport of chemicals and pathogens following introduction to water and water systems, estimating public health consequences, field monitoring of water quality, research into sources of water quality impairment, and laboratory studies to improve monitoring and forensic attribution of contaminants. Don has authored 15 peer-reviewed research articles among other publications that include extension publications, government reports, review articles, and book chapters. His outreach experience includes development of technical seminars and workshops for diverse audiences across a broad spectrum of topics, in particular water quality and GAPs. Dr. Stoeckel joined the Produce Safety Alliance in August 2015 to serve as the Midwest Regional Extension
Associate.

Connie joined the Produce Safety Alliance as the Northwest Regional Extension Associate in August 2017 with over eight years of extension experience in Nebraska and North Carolina and over three years of experience teaching college-level horticulture, microbiology, food science, agroecology, and family and consumer science courses, both on campus and online. Her education and work experience include production, harvest, postharvest handling, processing, and evaluation (quality, safety, sensory) of a variety of agricultural products. She is passionate about teaching the information and skills growers need to produce safe, high quality crops for fresh and processing markets and comply with buyer requirements and government regulations. Connie received her B.S. in Nutrition and Food Management and her M.S. in both Food Science & Technology and Horticulture from Oregon State University and her Ph.D. in Horticultural Science from NC State University. Follow her on Twitter @connie_fisk.