2024 BCFT - Speaker's Night Event
Join us for our annual BCFT Speaker Night event on Tuesday Jan. 30, 2024. This year’s annual BCFT speaker’s Night, organized by UBC Student Representatives, will explore business development opportunities outside of traditional QA/QC and R&D in the food industry. This year’s speakers are Karen Taylor, Lecturer at UBC Land and Food Systems/ Master of Food & Resource Economics Program and Reena Mistry, Customer Development Manager/ Sales Strategist at Caldic.
Dr. Taylor joined UBC as a Lecturer in the summer of 2023. She was previously employed as Director of Corporate Finance at the Bank of Montreal and has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) since 2015. She has an (Honours) Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of Saskatchewan, a MBA in Agribusiness and Economics from the University of Guelph, and a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Taylor has been a senior lender with a variety of Financial Institutions for nearly two decades in the agriculture & food sectors. Now, Dr. Taylor is teaching Agribusiness Management in the Master of Food & Resource Economics program at UBC as well as food policy, business concepts, and economics courses. She is a member of the BC Institute of Agrologists. She lives in Langley on a farm with her husband, horses, dogs, cats, and chickens.
Reena completed her B. Sc. In Food Science at the University of British Columbia in 2008. During her undergraduate studies, she also participated in the UBC Science Co-op program to gain experience and explore career options in Food Science. In 2008, Reena pursued her Master's degree with Dr. Christine Scaman, focusing on analytical food chemistry. This allowed her to gain knowledge about the research process and food analysis. Her expertise led her to a role at Daiya Foods Inc in 2011, where she worked on developing an analytical method for a new production process. She started working at Daiya before completing her M.Sc. and later returned to work full-time in R&D, focusing on product development. After over 4 years at Daiya, Reena left to join Caldic in food ingredient sales. The shift into food ingredients sales came about because she enjoyed the relationship aspect of her role in R&D – working with co-manufacturers to co-ordinate production trials, working with suppliers and sourcing new raw materials. Most recently she started a new position at Caldic North America as Sales Strategist. She is a strong supporter of the food technology and food science community, previously holding multiple IFT positions in both local and global chapters.
This is an in-person event, and refreshments will be provided. Come and join us for a fun evening of learning, socializing, and networking.
When: Tuesday, January 30, 2024, 5:30pm -8:30pm
Location: Isabel MacInnes Room, UBC Gage Residence, 5959 Student Union Boulevard
Food & Drink: complimentary to all attendees
Please register in advance due to limited seats. Instructions to join the meeting will be emailed to you once registered.
REGISTER HERE
