Food Valley Ambassador from India
Name: Sherin Thomas (female)
Nationality: Indian
Year of birth: 1986
Education and work experience:
• MSc Biotechnology - Specialization: Food Biotechnology, Wageningen UR
• Thesis on the 'Effect of sodium reduction on the fermentation and quality of sauerkraut', Wageningen UR, Aug 2010 - March 2011
• BSc in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Kerala University, India, 2004 - 2008
• Thesis on the 'Isolation of xylanase producing bacteria from soil microoganisms', Raijv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, India, Feb 2008
Specific knowledge:
Fermentation technology
Knowledge of languages:
Malayalam (mother tongue), English (fluent), Hindi (basic)
Personal note:
I did my Bachelor’s in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering. I opted to do my post graduation in the Netherlands mainly because the studies were largely application oriented. I decided to focus on food biotechnology as my specialization because of all the exciting research being done to improve the quality of food. It also involves improvement in the health of consumers.
During my post graduation work, I was very keen on working with fermented products. I have worked on tempe and sauerkraut fermentation.
My long-term goal is to work in a food-related company.
I regard the Food Valley Ambassador program as a stepping stone towards a great international career. I decided to join the program as it gave me an opportunity to do an internship in a food-related international company. I would like to use this opportunity to broaden my horizon in fermentation technology.