From left, Arthi Padamanabhan, Melissa Sales and Emily Del Bel work on filling jelly jars to donate to the OSU Food Pantry. Date: Dec. 13, 2010 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

On the first Monday of winter break, many Oregon State students were heading home to their families or driving to the slopes or warmer climates to celebrate their vacation. But nearly 20 Food and Fermentation Club members were back on campus, ready to learn and to help.

The students were gathered in the Pilot Plant in Wiegand Hall to whip up hundreds of jars of raspberry and dark sweet cherry jelly, which were bound for the OSU Food Pantry. The event was a bonding experience for club members, a chance to learn more about large scale jelly making, and a way to give back during a season that emphasizes charity and generosity.

The students have been looking for a way to apply their food science knowledge to a philanthropic project, and making jelly seemed like the perfect match.

Hot jelly cascades into a bucket before being poured into jars. Date: Dec. 13, 2010 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

“I’d volunteered at the OSU Food Pantry and found out they have a hard time getting jelly donations,” said Melissa Sales, a senior in food science and vice president of the Food and Fermentation club. Because jelly is relatively easy to make, is safe when correctly processed, and is shelf-stable for a long time, it seemed like a good product for club members to produce. Jelly seemed like a good product for club members to produce because it is relatively easy to make, safe when correctly processed, and is shelf-stable for a long time.

Because the Pilot Plant is licensed as an FDA approved food-processing facility, the students were able to make the jelly under the supervision of manager Jeff Clawson. He spent a long time going over the delicate – yet messy – art of jelly making, from getting the right temperature and consistency to boiling hot jelly safely into sterilized jars.

With the donation of berry concentrate from Kerr Concentrate in Salem, and jars from Campagna in Lebanon, the only cost to the students was sugar, and their time.

Emily Del Bel, a junior and president of the club, watched carefully as Clawson explained how different jelly manufacturers handle the jelly making process, and helped test the consistency of the jelly to see if it was ready to pour.

“It’s starting to boil over,” she squealed at one point, as the jelly began to splash over the side of the metal vat where it was cooking. “I don’t know what to do!” Clawson was quickly at her side to help.

Emily Del Bel chats with Sam Ellison as they cool down a sample of jelly before measuring it in the Pilot Plant in Weigand Hall. Date: Dec. 13, 2010 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

Recently the club held a food drive and donated six full boxes of food to the OSU Food Pantry, but wanted an even more tangible way to help out. And even though it meant giving up a bit of their holiday break, the club members didn’t complain.

“I’m really amazed,” Del Bel said. “We have had an awesome turnout. And this is a learning opportunity as well.”

The Department of Food Science and Technology has been rapidly expanding in recent years, so there are even more students to participate in activities like jelly making.

“Our department has grown to a critical mass of students,” Clawson said. “Five years ago we had 30 students. This year we have 170 undergraduates.”

Matt Storm pours jelly into jars. Date: Dec. 13, 2010 (photo: Theresa Hogue)

“We’ve done so many things this year,” Del Bel said. “It’s our passion. It’s not just a major. It’s what we live.”

~ Theresa Hogue

But a new collaboration between Oregon State University, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Downtown Corvallis Association aims to present fascinating findings from leading researchers in an unexpected forum: the local pub.
“Science Pub Corvallis” premieres on Monday, March 9, with, appropriately enough, “Beer: A Tasty Blend of Art, History and Science,” a presentation by Jeff Clawson of the highly regarded Fermentation Sciences program at OSU.

In addition to his involvement with research and instruction in that program, Clawson manages the campus Pilot Brewery, part of OSU’s nationally ranked College of Agricultural Sciences.
Clawson will discuss the history of beer making around the world and how the art and science of perfecting a brew have culminated in an Oregon microbrew industry that leads the United States.

The OSU Fermentation Science program has played a key role in that industry, helping to develop many of Oregon’s most popular small-label brands.

OSU is one of only two universities in the United States to offer a Fermentation degree program and is home to an internationally recognized hops research initiative supported by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

The event begins at 6 p.m. at Old World Deli & Café, 341 S.W. Second St. Subsequent Corvallis Science Pub presentations will be served up on the second Monday of each month, same time and location. While Science Pub Corvallis is free and open to the public, organizers encourage early arrivals, so that patrons can place food and drink orders and settle in before the talks begin.

This is the third Science Pub that OMSI has helped launch in Oregon. Science Pub Portland was the first, and regularly draws hundreds of patrons to the Mission Theater and Pub in northwest Portland. Science Pub Eugene is newer, but still commands a faithful audience at Cozmic Pizza.

Science pubs are part of a global, grassroots “science café” movement that began in the United Kingdom with a goal of creating a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for people with no science background to learn.
About 75 science cafés now meet regularly around the United States, and hundreds convene consistently around the world.
The second Science Pub Corvallis presentation is set for Monday, April 13, with OSU Health and Human Sciences researchers Emily Ho, who is also a principal investigator at the OSU Linus Pauling Institute, and Kathy Gunter focusing on healthy eating choices and physical activity that give individuals a better shot at long, healthy lives.

For more information on Science Pub Corvallis, visit http://www.omsi.edu/sciencepubcorvallis, call 541-754-6624 or search for Corvallis Science Pub on Facebook.

~ Todd Simmons