Intrigued by science, its focus on health and the ability to make a difference, Alisa Holst completed her major in nutritional science and technology before even setting foot on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus.
“I’ve always really enjoyed learning about science and chemistry, and I’ve always been very health-conscious,” Holst said. “There are all kinds of science in food science, and my love of nutrition and chemistry go hand in hand.”
Once on campus, the junior from Orion, Illinois, dedicated himself to learning as much as possible, and now holds multiple campus leadership positions and has arranged internships at well-known companies. Through her involvement, she is preparing for her future as a food scientist, where she will embody one of the department’s mottos: ‘Impact the world three times a day’.
This summer, Holst is working as a product development intern in North Carolina at Campbell’s Snacks, the entity responsible for favorites like Goldfish and Snyder’s Pretzels.
Last summer, Holst was a quality assurance intern at Jackson Dairy in Hutchinson, Kansas, a Kroger dairy.
“During that internship, I worked in the lab next to the production floor, making sure all milk products produced were of the right quality and produced safely,” says Holst. “Working at a dairy in quality assurance was a good experience applying technical food safety rules.”
Holst also gained experience in other aspects of food processing as an apprentice worker at the Food Processing Center on Innovation Campus: at the dairy factory, the pilot plant and the product development lab.
“The best thing is to see how nutritional science is applied in the real world,” she said. “It’s interesting to make the ice cream and see all the ingredients that go into it and how things are done in a specific order. We work in the product development lab and do a lot of reverse engineering when a customer has a product, but it has different ingredients.” want to make while keeping the look and/or taste of the product the same, so those experiences where I get to see science being applied to food in real situations are really cool.”
Outside of the lab, Holst is busy recruiting new students and enriching current students’ experiences as a student ambassador for the department of food science and technology and president of the food science club. The food science club, a student branch of the Institute of Food Technology, holds monthly meetings, brings in industry speakers, and provides networking opportunities.
As an ambassador for the department, Holst can use her passion for nutritional science and the department to recruit opportunities for high school and other students.
“I really think our department is something very special,” she said. “It offers unique opportunities to students, and I want to share that with my knowledge of our department and my passion for it, but also just teach people about nutritional science.”
After graduation, Holst hopes to continue working in product development, where she will use raw materials and convert them into food that you find in the supermarket and affect the world three times a day. For now, she’s focused on making the most of her internship and spreading the word about the food science and technology department.
“I like the opportunities the department offers its students,” Holst said. “I’m involved in so many things inside, and the department makes it really easy to get involved in those things if you want to. I think that’s something unique, certainly in comparison with other faculties or other food science departments at other universities. We simply have a lot of opportunities, so that students can develop further professionally or academically and even personally.”
