Gravani, Robert Bernard
Professor
I am actively engaged in food safety extension/outreach activities with all sectors of the food system including production agriculture, food processing, food retailing, food service, regulatory training, consumer information, as well as food protection and defense (food biosecurity). In addition, I teach or co-teach three Food Science courses, am a dining discussion Faculty Fellow and maintain a small research program.
research
research and scholarship focus
Current research focuses on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and assisting growers and packing house operators reduce microbial hazards and risks in the production and packing of fresh fruits and vegetables.||A project studying how severly food allergic consumers manage their food allergies is currently underway.
primary investigator of
- MULTIFACETED FOOD ALLERGY EDUCATION PROGRAM | Research Grant
- THE SAFETY OF IMPORTED FOODS: AN EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROJECT | Research Grant
co investigator of
research areas
- adult and extension education | collaborative research area (CALS)
- communication | collaborative research area (CALS)
- education | collaborative research area (CALS)
- food science | collaborative research area (CALS)
- fruit and vegetable production | collaborative research area (CALS)
- microbiology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- pathogens | collaborative research area (CALS)
submitted impact statement
- The national Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) program in the Department of Food Science at Cornell | 2007 Impact statement
- Updating the Food Safety Knowledge and Skills of Food Inspectors from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Safety and Inspection. | 2007 Impact statement
- Food safety education and training for the food processing industry | 2007 Impact statement
- The national Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) program in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University | 2006 Impact statement
- Updating the Food Safety Knowledge and Skills of Food Inspectors from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Safety and Inspection. | 2006 Impact statement
- Food safety education and training for the food processing industry | 2006 Impact statement
- Food safety education and training for the food processing industry | 2005 Impact statement
- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Food Safety Education and Training for the Food Processing Industry | 2004 Impact statement
- The National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Program at Cornell University | 2004 Impact statement
- Updating food safety knowledge for New York State markets food inspectors | 2004 Impact statement
affiliations
faculty appointment in
- Food Science (FOOD) | Cornell department
member of graduate field
- Food Science and Technology | graduate field
other Cornell affiliations
- Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) | research program
- Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center | extension program unit
teaching
teaching focus
The focus of my teaching program is to stimulate student interest in, and enthusiasm for food science and food safety through the use of innovative technologies (electronic student polling, video clips, etc.) and instructional methods. I currently teach a course in Food Safety Assurance, another in Leadership and Career Skills in Food Science to Freshman Food Science majors and co-teach Food Choices and Issues, a popular course where the relationship between food, diet and health, food technology, and contemporary food issues are addressed.
teaches
- FDSC 4960 - Undergraduate Internship in Food Science (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 4970 - Individual Study in Food Science (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 4980 - Undergraduate Teaching Experience (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 4990 - Undergraduate Research in Food Science (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 5000 - Master of Professional Studies (Agriculture) Project (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 6960 - Graduate Internship in Food Science (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 6980 - Graduate Teaching Experience (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 8900 - Masters-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 9900 - Doctoral-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- FDSC 1102 - Leadership and Career Skills in Food Science (W 01:25:PM-03:20:PM) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 1500 - Food Choices and Issues (TR 12:20:PM-01:10:PM) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 3960 - Food Safety Assurance (TR 09:05:AM-09:55:AM) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 4960 - Undergraduate Internship in Food Science (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 4970 - Individual Study in Food Science (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 4980 - Undergraduate Teaching Experience (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 5000 - Master of Professional Studies (Agriculture) Project (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 6980 - Graduate Teaching Experience (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 8900 - Masters-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- FDSC 9900 - Doctoral-Level Thesis Research (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
service
outreach focus
The focus of our Extension/Outreach program is to provide the principles of food safety assurance to all sectors of the food system and assist constituents in producing, processing, transporting, distributing (retailing) and preparing foods safely.||In recent years, the concepts of food protection and defense (food biosecurity) have been incorporated into our extension/outreach programs and the best practices for communicating the risks involved in a catastrophic food event have been shared with a variety of food indusry and regulatory agency officals.
background
featured in
- Cornell professor faults systemic failures in salmonella outbreak from peanut butter | Cornell Chronicle feature
- Professors brief Congressional staffers about food safety before key vote | Cornell Chronicle feature
Keywords: food microbiology, food protection and defense, food safety & sanitation, food safety and sanitation, HACCP, homeland security, regulation, regulations