We’re bringing you a dairy food science icon on this episode of Dairy Digressions. Host Matt Lucy, PhD, is joined by MaryAnne Drake, PhD, a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Food Science at North Carolina State University. MaryAnne is the director of the Sensory Service Center, director of the Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, an ADSA Fellow who served as ADSA’s first female president, and a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. MaryAnne explains her journey from food microbiology to being a leading authority in sensory science, dairy flavor chemistry, and consumer research after a stint working in a creamery during graduate school. She now runs a lab focused on sensory analysis and flavor chemistry of dairy products and ingredients, working to understand how flavor varies with processing and storage, and how these parameters relate to consumer perceptions. Listen in as MaryAnne shares her valuable insights on pressing issues in dairy, from the influence of packaging on school milk flavor—including why the milk carton might not be the best option—to consumer attitudes toward dairy versus plant-based alternatives. The two also discuss sustainability messaging around dairy, milk marketing, and the critical role of school lunch programs in shaping a lifelong love of milk and dairy products. She takes us behind the scenes of her massive lab (which she lovingly calls her “flying three-ring circus”), her work with industry, tips on getting a job in food science, and why finding your passion and purpose is the key to success in science. Finally, she discusses the importance of purpose driven work, the evolving role of women in science, and the intellectual joy of progress, even if it happens on a quiet holiday.

Episode Twenty-Eight Show Notes

Learn more about MaryAnne Drake, PhD, and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Want even more of the latest dairy food science? Join us at the ADSA 2026 Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next June!

Start earning rewards and journal savings via the ADSA Loyalty Rewards Program for the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications.

Catch up on the papers discussed in the episode:

Parental perception of children’s school lunch milk, Journal of Dairy Science (2023)

The role of packaging on the flavor of fluid milk, Journal of Dairy Science (2023)

Parents’ implicit perceptions of dairy milk and plant-based milk alternatives, Journal of Dairy Science (2022)

Children's perceptions of fluid milk with varying levels of milkfat, Journal of Dairy Science (2022)

Child preferences and perceptions of fluid milk in school meal programs, Journal of Dairy Science (2021)

Invited review: Maintaining and growing fluid milk consumption by children in school lunch programs in the United States, Journal of Dairy Science (2020)