Seldom does anyone dream of growing up to be a meat scientist, but things turned out to be quite different for Lauren Sammel after attending a meat science class in her undergraduate program. Sammel became fascinated with the science behind meat processing and went on to get a Ph.D. from UW-Madison and currently works as a senior scientist in the meat research facility at the local Oscar Mayer Foods.
Originally from Long Island, N.Y., the former Badger said, 'The University has an excellent meat science program and Madison has a city atmosphere without the problems of a city.'
At Oscar Mayer, Sammel works on improving turkey bacon, helping to provide a leaner option to the health conscious bacon lovers. Sammel further said that her work is very challenging and 'all of us at Oscar Mayer strive to meet the consumer needs and each product is rigorously tested before it comes into the market.'
