GLORIA ESSILFIE
Dr. Gloria Essilfie is a Food Microbiologist who has also specialized in Postharvest Technology. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Crop Science, University of Ghana leading programmes in postharvest and quality assurance. She has spent over 20 years in research for development activities as well as in academia. Before joining the University of Ghana, Dr. Essilfie worked with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) on the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program which was piloted in 8 countries and its results have been successfully scaled out across the continent. She has over 13 years experience supervising postgraduate research work and was the Institutional Champion as well as a Mentor for the FSNet-Africa Project at the University of Ghana. Her research interests are in adapting and assessing low-cost preservative technologies to reduce postharvest loss in agricultural commodities. Her specific interest focuses on the use of locally available materials as well as technologies such as solar drying or freeze drying to maintain quality and extend shelf life of agricultural produce. She is also interested in the development of management and intervention strategies that may be applied to eliminate or control pathogenic contamination in fruits and vegetables. Dr. Essilfie holds a doctorate degree in Food Science from the University of Georgia, Athens, USA, an M. Phil and B.Sc in Food Science from the University of Ghana. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, focusing on postharvest food safety of vegetable crops. She is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) and the International Society for Horticultural Science.