Food Valley Ambassadors from Greece Name:                          Ioanna Stampelou (female) Nationality:                  Greek Year of birth:               1980 Education and work experience: • MSc in Food Safety. Specialization Dairy Science and Technology, Wageningen UR • April 2009: Internship placement in Microbiology department of CORFILAC. "Consorzio Ricerca Filiera Lattiero-Casearia’’ Ragusa,Italy. • November 2006: internship as a Food Technologist, General Chemical State Laboratory, Food Division, Department of GMOs, Detection of genetically modified organisms in soybean and corn seeds. Specific knowledge: General background in food technology and food processes, specializing in dairy products. More specialized background in Dairy Microbiology. Contacts in home country: Technological Institute of Athens, Department of Food Technology and Nutrition, Food Division of General Chemical state laboratory of Greece, Food Industrial Research and Technological Development Company (ETAT SA). Knowledge of languages: Greek (mother tongue), English (fluent) and Spanish Some pro's of Greece: • The Greek food market is still unexploited and offers a great variety of food products that could be exported in the Dutch market. • Educated workforce • Located in a position bridging Europe, Asia and Africa, offering opportunities for export. Personal note: After obtaining my Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology in Greece, I wanted to continue my academic education. After weighing academic, professional and personal goals, I made Wageningen University my top choice for future studies. Wageningen fulfilled my highest academic criteria and offered a curriculum that I felt would give me the kind of expertise I sought. My decision to specialize in Dairy Science and Technology was based on the fact that Wageningen University had a very well designed, structured and recognized program that would offer me a solid background in the field of Dairy Science. As my long-term goal was to launch an international career in Food Research, I decided to participate in the Food Valley Ambassador Program. Not only did this seem like a good way to gain more work experience, it was an opportunity to represent Food Valley in my home country, to ask Greek food companies to join the Food Valley network and become a link between the international Food industry and the Greek market. In conclusion, I was interested in entering an international network of food companies and I believe it was a wise decision to participate in the program.