2025 Scholarship Winners

• Jeeten Mistry was recently awarded a Rocky Mountain IFT Educational Scholarship. Jeeten is currently pursuing an MBA from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. While he has experience with both regulatory and ingredient quality management, Jeeten is interested in pivoting to supply chain and/or operations. He is passionate about driving process efficiencies while boosting sustainability to reduce food waste, promote sustainable sourcing and production, and ensure food security is improved. Jeeten has been an engaged and very active member of RMIFT over the past few years, and he continues to support the local community through his MBA program.

 

• Chelsie Miller was recently awarded a Rocky Mountain IFT Educational Scholarship. Chelsie’s goal is to earn a PhD in Food Science from Colorado State University, and she has been working as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Charlene Van Buiten’s Food Structure and Function Lab. There, she has been studying unique sourdough microbiomes and their impact on the nutritional composition of bread, which can potentially reduce gluten and make it safer for those with celiac disease. Chelsie is passionate about sustainable and equitable food systems, and she aims to bridge the gap between food composition and function and their effects on post-digestion. Her dedication to interdisciplinary research, community engagement, and science communication exemplifies the values of IFT.

 

• Parker Meuli was recently awarded a Rocky Mountain IFT Educational Scholarship. Parker is currently pursuing a BS of Food Science and Fermentation from Colorado State University. He is passionate about food security and aims to work on precision fermentation in the future; one day, he hopes to create food components (such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) from scratch at the microbial level. Parker has been active in CSU’s Microbiology Department as a lab assistant, and he is a member of CSU’s Mycology Club where he’s been learning about culturing different species of mushroom and fungus. RMIFT is very excited to watch Parker grow and follow his dreams in the food science industry.

 

• Amelia Osburn was recently awarded a Rocky Mountain IFT Educational Scholarship. Amelia is currently a sophomore pursuing a BS of Food Science and Nutrition from Colorado State University. She has become interested in this career path because she’s always been passionate about science and had the opportunity to shadow her mother at work where she experienced life as a product developer. While Amelia has just started her journey to become a food scientist, she is excited to work hard and form meaningful connections with others in the industry. RMIFT wishes Amelia all the best as she progresses through her undergraduate program.