Elizabeth Boyle-Roden

As a child of corn and soybean farmers in a small Illinois town, Elizabeth’s early introduction to Food Science at an engineering camp, and her first job detasseling corn for a seed company, propelled her towards her goal of using math and science to “contribute to feeding the world.” She obtained a BS in Food Science from the University of Illinois, delving into both basic and applied research after undergraduate internships with General Mills and RJR Nabisco. As a UC Davis graduate student, she received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship for independent research and attained a Ph.D. in Food Science with emphasis on the biophysics of lipids. After a post-doctoral position with the California Institute of Food and Agriculture, Elizabeth joined the University of Maryland College Park Department of Nutrition and Food Science as an Assistant Professor. In the following years she garnered an International Life Sciences Future Leader Award, a grant from the American Heart Association, and Junior Faculty Member of the Year recognition by the College of Agriculture. After moving to Ohio with her spouse and young children, she worked in the Graduate Biophysics Program and Department of Chemistry at The Ohio State University. Continuing to balance family/work life, Elizabeth joined Hygieia’s sister company Red Rock Biologics in 2005, assisting with technical sales and public relations. In 2011 she began consulting for Hygieia, contributing research summaries and data analysis, and in 2017 joined the Hygieia lab to lead development of the aquaculture program. She manages a growing research facility and staff, identifies and facilitates technology transfer between Hygieia and university aquaculture scientists, and contributes to exploratory research.

Elizabeth has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants and is a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, and Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta Honorary Societies. She has contributed to publications such as Journal of Lipid Research, Lipids, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Food Science, Food Technology, Journal of Magnetic Resonance and Biomolecular Engineering, and has been a reviewer for Food and Agriculture institutional publishers. She is a long-time member of the Val Vista Lakes Women’s Club, whose mission emphasizes community, camaraderie and charity and promotes a positive environment for women through friendship-building activities and serving the needs of the community at large. She has served two terms on the Club’s Board of Directors and chaired several event committees. For several years she spent many hours as a volunteer, costume maker and set builder at Limelight, a local youth community theater. Elizabeth continues to nourish her world, mentoring undergraduate interns and representing Hygieia at career fairs and trade shows.