Curriculum Vitae: Barbara Blakistone

CURRICULUM VITAE

BARBARA BLAKISTONE

EDUCATION

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

GRADUATE RESEARCH

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

AWARDS

PUBLICATIONS

• Blakistone, Barbara and Yuhuan Chen.  HACCP.  The Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging—Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York.  (in press)
• Blakistone, Barbara.  Updated GMPs: Benefit Seafood Community.  April/May 2006.  Global Aquaculture Advocate 9(2): 38-39.
• Keller, Scott, Joseph Marcy, Barbara Blakistone, Cameron Hackney, W. Hans Carter, and George Lacy.  Application of fluid modeling to determine the threshold leak size for liquid foods.  2003.  J. Food Prot. 66(7):1260-1268.
• Keller, Scott, Joseph Marcy, Barbara Blakistone, Cameron Hackney, W. Hans Carter, and George Lacy.  The effect of microorganism characteristics on leak size critical to predicting package sterility.  2003.  J. Food Prot. 66(9): 1716-1719.
• Blakistone, Barbara.  2003.  Retortable Pouches.  Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering, ed. by Dennis R. Heldman, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.
• Blakistone, Barbara, Rolenda Chuyate, Donald Kautter, Jr., James Charbonneau, and Karen Suit.  1999.  Efficacy of Oxonia Active® against selected sporeformers.  J. Food Prot. 62(3):262-267.
• Blakistone, B.A. (ed.)  1998.  Principles and Applications of Modified Atmosphere Packaging of Foods, Chapman & Hall, London. 
• Blakistone, Barbara A.  1997.  Targeting food packaging materials for HACCP in Food Safety from a Chemistry Perspective—Is There a Role for HACCP?, Jonathan DeVries, Janet A. Dudek, Michael T. Morrissey, and Christopher S. Keenan (eds.), Analytical Progress Press, Minneapolis.  Also published in Packaging Yearbook:1996, Barbara Blakistone, Technical Editor, National Food Processors Association, Washington, D.C.
• Blakistone, Barbara and Bernard, Dane.  1997.  HACCP.  The Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging—Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
• Blakistone, Barbara A., Keller, Scott W., Marcy, Joseph E., Lacy, George H., Hackney, Cameron R., and Carter, Walter H., Jr.  1996.  Contamination of Flexible Pouches Challenged by Immersion Testing. J. Food Prot. 59(7):764-767.
•  Keller, Scott W., Marcy, Joseph E., Blakistone, Barbara A., Lacy, George H., Hackney, Cameron R., and Carter, Walter H., Jr.  1996.  Bioaerosol Exposure Method for Package Integrity Testing.  J. Food Prot. 59(7):768-771.
• Harper, Carol L., Barbara A. Blakistone, J. Bruce Litchfield, and Scott A. Morris.  Developments in Food Package Integrity Testing.  1995.  Trends in Food Science and Technology Vol. 6 (10): 336-340.
• Allen, Bradford H. and Barbara A. Blakistone.  1995.  Assessing Reclamation Processes for Plastics Recycling in Symposium Series No. 609, Plastics, Rubber, and Paper Recycling: A Pragmatic Approach.  Edited by Keith W. Hutchenson & Neil R. Foster.  American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
• Plastic Package Integrity Testing/Assuring Seal Quality.  1995.  Edited by Barbara A. Blakistone and Carol L. Harper.  Institute of Packaging Professionals, Herndon, VA and Food Processors Institute, Washington, D.C.
• Blakistone, Barbara.  1994.  New Developments in Plastic Packaging Seal Integrity Testing: One Key to the Future of High Speed Plastic Packaging.  Proceedings of the IoPP Packaging Technology Conference/New and Emerging Developments in Packaging Technology.  November 11 and 12.  Chicago, IL.  Institute of Packaging Professionals, Herndon, VA.
• Blakistone, Barbara. 1994. The Fourth "R." Food Processing 55 (3): 86.
• Blakistone, Barbara. 1992. Food Packaging Technology. Book Review in Food Technology 46(5): 70.
• Leonardi, A.J., B.A. Blakistone, and S.W. Kyryk. 1990.  Applications of Microscopy in the Paper Industry: Case Histories of The Mead Corporation.  Food Structure 9: 203.
• Blakistone, Barbara A., Leonard W. Aurand, and Harold E. Swaisgood. 1986. Association of Sulfhydryl Oxidase and Xanthine Oxidase in Bovine Mammary Tissue.  J. Dairy Sci. 69: 2803.
• Clare, Debra A., Barbara Blakistone, Harold E. Swaisgood, and H. Robert Horton.  1981.Sulfhydryl Oxidase-Catalyzed Conversion of Xanthine Dehydrogenase to Xanthine Oxidase.  Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 211:  44.
• Sisler, Edward C. and Barbara Blakistone.  1980. Ethylene-Binding Component from Plant Tissue.  Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists and the Phytochemical Society of North America.
• Blakistone, Barbara A., Edward C. Sisler, and Leonard W. Aurand. 1978.  Transport of Bovine Milk Xanthine Oxidase into Mammary Glands of the Rat. J. Dairy Sci. 61: 168.  (Master's Research)

PRESENTATIONS

• 2007. Risks, Benefits, and Challenges in the U.S. Seafood Industry.  Seafood Science and Technology Conference. November 8, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
• 2007.  Using packaging technologies to respond to consumer, retailer, and seafood industry needs.  International Smoked Seafood Conference. March 7, Anchorage.  (co-authored with Claire Sand, Ameripak)
• 2006.  Controlling Listeria monocytogenes in Food Processing.  Workshop sponsored by National Fisheries Institute, Food Products Association, and Northwest Food Processors Association.  Sea-Tac Holiday Inn.  February 8, Seattle.
• 2004.  National Food Processors Conference on Heat Seal Closures on Plastic Packaging: Best Practices.  Containers and Closures: Perfecting the Match.  May 5, Washington, D.C.
• 2003.  Plastic Packaging: Leading the Food Industry out of Glass and Cans.  Eastern Food Science Conference-XIII.  October 23, Philadelphia.
• AseptiPak 2003 Aseptic Market: Ramifications of Recent FDA Actions.  March 17, Orlando.
• 2001.  Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting.  Novel Processing Technologies and Packaging: Effects of Ultra High Pressure.  June 25, New Orleans.
• Solutions 2000 at PACK EXPO International.  Using Packaging to Limit Microbial Growth in Food.  November 6, Chicago.
• 1999. Conference on Food Engineering.  Predicting Package Defects: An Evaluation of a Fluid Flow Model.  November 4, Dallas.
• 1999.  Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry, Polymers, Laminations, & Coatings Conference.  What Suppliers Need To Know: A Brief Course in Food Chemistry.  August 24, Atlanta.
• 1999.  Institute of Food Technologists.  Assuring the Safety of Chilled Foods-Manufacturing Principles.  July 27, Chicago.
• 1998.  Food Marketing Institute Meal Solutions™.  Maintaining Quality and Safety thru GAPs, GMPs, HACCP, and °F.  October 4, Tampa.
• 1998.  Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry, Polymers, Laminations, & Coatings Conference.  What Suppliers Need To Know: A Brief Course in Food Chemistry.  August 31, San Francisco.
• 1997.  The 1997 Conference of Food Engineering, Aseptic Processing and Packaging Technology for Food Manufacturing.  Wanted: Machinery to Package Aseptically-Processed Particulates.  November 20,  Los Angeles.
• 1997.  Food Forum, Chapman University.  HACCP: Its Application to the Food Industry and its Suppliers.  September 22, Orange, CA.
• 1997.  Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry, Polymers, Laminations, & Coatings Conference.  Applications of Specialty Barriers to Food Packaging.  August 28, Toronto, Canada.
• 1997.  Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting.  Efficacy of Oxonia Active® as a Non-Rinse Sterilant.  June 15, Atlanta.
• 1997.  Society of Manufacturing Engineers/Fundamentals of Modified Atmosphere Packaging.  Applying HACCP Principles for Safe Foods in MAP and Quality Control for MAP-A Workshop.  April 17 and 18, Chicago.
• 1996.  Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry, Polymers, Laminations, and Coatings Conference.  Defining and Monitoring Seal Integrity-The Key to Advances in Plastics Packaging.  September 11, Boston.
• 1996.  Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting.  Package Integrity Testing Equipment: Why the Industry Still Isn't Satisfied.  June 23, New Orleans.
• 1996.  Society of Manufacturing Engineers/Fundamentals of Modified Atmosphere Packaging.  Managing HACCP with Prerequisite Programs.  April 23, Atlanta, GA.
• 1996.  American Chemical Society Annual Meeting.  Targeting Food Packaging Materials for HACCP.  March 26, New Orleans.
• 1994.  The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc./Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee Meeting. Food Industry Perspectives on the Solid Waste Issue. December 1.  Scottsdale, AR.
• 1994.  Institute of Packaging Professionals Packaging Technology Conference.  New Developments in Plastic Packaging Seal Integrity Testing: One Key to the Future of High Speed Plastic Packaging.  November 11. Chicago, IL.
• 1994.  Macromolecular Secretariat of the American Chemical Society.  Assessing Reclamation Processes for Plastics Recycling.  August 25.  Washington, D.C.
• 1994.  Food Processors Institute/Damage Control of Packaged Goods. A Primer on Food Safety and Microbiology. April 19. Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1993.  7th International Conference on Vacuum Web Coating. Barrier Packaging:A Barrier to the Green Movement? November 12. Miami, Florida.
• 1993.  University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, Food Safety Symposium.  Packaging & Recycling. April 21.
• 1990.  Pack Alimentaire. Extending the Shelf Life of Refrigerated Yogurt.  May 17, San Francisco, California.
• 1990.  International Conference on Scanning Microscopy and Food Structure.  Applications of Microscopy in the Paper Industry -- Case Histories of the Mead Corporation.  May 10, Bethesda, Maryland.
• 1989.  Pack Alimentaire.  The Crosscheck Aseptic Packaging System as a Means of Improving Quality Retention of Refrigerated Dairy Products.  June 14, Chicago, Illinois.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1. I was selected to be the Outstanding Alumnus of the Food Science Department of North Carolina State University for 2006.  I was further honored by being one of 12 Outstanding Alumni for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, NCSU for 2006.
2. Designed and managed a definitive study for Graham in 2004 that examined the degradation of Vitamin C during initial shelf life in 16 oz PET versus glass as influenced by headspace volume and nitrogen flush.
3. Out of 60+ symposia to be presented at IFT 2004, mine on Evolutionary Trends in PET and Polyolefins Containers was selected as 1 of 8 to be considered for proceedings publication.
4. In September 2003 I received the Award of Merit from the Washington, D.C. Section of the Institute of Food Technologists for the service work I've done for the Section and for national IFT.
5. I was senior author on a paper (1998.  Efficacy of Oxonia Active® against selected sporeformers.  J. Food Prot. 62(3):262-267) that remains the benchmark for discussion of Oxonia as an aseptic sterilant.  The paper was frequently mentioned at National Food Processors Association's Technical Overview of Alternative Sterilants for Use in Aseptic Processing, a conference held June 17 and 18, 2004 in Arlington, VA.  (Note as of May, 2006: This paper was never meant to confound progress in aseptic science, but the bacteriological intrigue of sterilization of Bacillus cereus is only now being revisited.  A formulation of Oxonia has been found to have efficacy againstl the organism and is being reviewed by FDA just this year.)
6. Elected Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists in 2001.
7. Received the 2000 Riester-Davis Award for packaging excellence from the IFT Food Packaging Division.  Both the Fellowship and Riester-Davis were awarded to me primarily for my accomplishments in aseptic food science and my volunteer efforts in the Institute of Food Technologists.
8. I mentored a graduate student on an internship program from France.  (2000)  She completed a project on effects of high pressure processing on packaging materials and successfully defended her thesis on September 18th.  I was a participating member of the jury at her university in France.
9. In February of 1999, I received Sea Grant funding from the state of North Carolina to work cooperatively with a seafood processor in the state and the North Carolina State University Seafood Laboratory at Morehead City on a project to assess seafood quality using ozone-treated water in processing.  A publication of this cooperative work is available thru the Morehead Lab.
10. During 1997, I was invited by The Washington Center/North American Free Trade Agreement Program to mentor 2 student interns from Mexico on scholarship.  I have supervised their work at the National Food Processors Association.
11. In November, 1996, I was invited by Chapman & Hall to serve as editor of a book on modified atmosphere packaging.  The book titled Principles and Applications of Modified Atmosphere Packaging of Foods was published in January, 1998.
12. In 1996, I prepared two grant proposals for funding review by the USDA and by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.  The USDA proposal addresses package integrity, my primary research focus at NFPA.  The second proposal concerns the novel sterilant ozone, its use in seafood processing, and NFPA's leading role in requesting a food additive amendment for its use.  Both proposals allow me use of my skills as an interdisciplinarian and advance a goal of the association to seek outside funding for research.
13. National Food Processors Association has capitalized on my knowledge of microbiology and packaging by utilizing me as a HACCP instructor.  Further, I have been invited to write a HACCP section for the Jan., 1997 edition of The Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging and to speak on chemical issues in food packaging at an American Chemical Society "HACCP Chemistry" program.
14. During my tenure at National Food Processors, I have advanced my reputation in packaging research by publishing and lecturing on package integrity testing.  Also I have organized two successful conferences on package integrity testing.
15. I have received an appointment from 1993 to present as Adjunct Professor to Virginia Tech and am working collaboratively on a package biotesting research project with Dr. Joseph Marcy.  I have mentored the successful completion of an M.S. and Ph.D. program on this project.
16. During 1992 and 1993 I was a key organizer for a number of meetings and conferences including the Food Packaging Update, an overview of current topics in food packaging, and the Science Workshop, a half day session to instruct scientists how to teach pre-high school students science experiments that they will enjoy and learn from, at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), Quality Management Systems, a mini-symposium on HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and TQM (Total Quality Management) at the March Meeting of the Washington, D.C. Section of IFT,MAPack '93, a two and one-half day conference on modified atmosphere packaging sponsored by the Food Packaging Division of IFT and the Institute of Packaging Professionals, and I am initiating an update on package integrity assessment in cooperation with IoPP and the Food Processors Institute of the National Food Processors Association.
17. At the National Dairy Board, I initiated technology transfer discussions between Ralston-Purina and the University of Vermont and the Mead Corporation and Utah State University on applications of edible dairy protein films and created a program for edible films.
18. Servicing customer accounts was an important part of my job responsibilities with International Paper (IP) and Mead Corporation not only on matters involving company equipment but in-house problems.  For example, I personally assisted Real Fresh, Visalia, California and Seneca Foods, Prosser, Washington, in resolving an aseptic post-processing failure (heat exchanger contamination) in the first case and defining the nature of some floating particles in processed juice (fungal pieces) in the second case.
19. To continue on with other aspects of "troubleshooting," I have spent much time examining packaging contamination problems.  Examples:  a. IP manufactures milk carton stock which is used not only for dairy products but also juice.  I personally handled occasional complaints from customers and was able to show that the board became mold-contaminated after manufacture by natural microflora in the environment.  I made recommendations for mold prevention.  b.  I worked closely with Mead Inks to resolve a mold contamination problem on beverage cartons for a key Mead Packaging account.  We were able to find a mold inhibitor to add to the overprint varnish that prevented outgrowth of the mold and saved the account.  c.  Mead Paperboard - Japan was being sued because of outgrowth of mold on cartons used to contain in-home tomato plant kits.  I showed that the mold was ubiquitous and probably grew out under conditions of use not as a result of manufacturing contamination.  The suit was dropped.  Mead Paperboard - Japan wanted to sell fresh grapes in cartons but was concerned about mold growth.  After discussing the problem with the winemaker at Hogue Cellars, Prosser, Washington, I recommended giving a "swiss cheese" appearance to the cartons so that the grapes could "breathe" freely.  Mead - Japan captured the market they had targeted.
20. Job responsibilities at IP and Mead required my working with a small group of scientists to define forming and sealing problems on machines engineered to package food.  I worked alone to perfect the cleaning/sanitizing cycle on Mead's food packaging machine, but my ideas were implemented by engineers into the system whether they were program changes to the cycle or addition of sprayers. My group continued to advise Engineering on problems we saw in the packages that could be resolved by mechanical adjustments.
21. In August, 1990 I made technical presentations at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Tokyo, Japan to potential Mead customers.  I was one of two speakers from Mead - U.S.  Our presentation was well received in Kuala Lumpur, and I would like to think my talk on food packaging contributed to the customer subsequently signing with Mead Coated Board.
22. Working closely with a professional video production group, I directed a technical sales tape for Mead Packaging and wrote the script.  It was used for sales presentations.  Tape is available upon request.
23. My team skills became particularly refined as a result of working in Mead Coated Board on a project to resolve odor issues in food packaging cartons.  The work required my bringing together such diverse groups as papermakers and sensory analysts.  The project required my initiating discussions with sensory specialists in Germany and England.  This project added a special breadth to my background:  a food scientist who knows something about papermaking.