Jayne began her journey with an honours degree in the laboratory of A/Prof Belinda Ferrari. After finishing her honours, Jayne began the journey of searching for a job. This was a real challenge for an international student with a temporary visa during a pandemic.
Hard work paid off as Jayne managed to secure a three-month internship with DSM Food Specialities, a leading global supplier of specialty food enzymes, cultures, bio-preservation solutions, hydrocolloids, savoury ingredients and solutions for sugar reduction. DSM specialises in the production of cultures for the dairy industry including cheese, yoghurt and other fermented milk products in Sydney.
Jayne’s honours degree was beneficial, as she arrived at her internship with sound skills and an understanding of research procedures. Her internship involved learning how to apply her practical skills in a commercial microbiology lab in the production of lactic acid bacterial start cultures for the dairy industry. Jayne enjoyed the R&D optimisation and quality improvement of a real production process. She could also use her microbiology skills when ‘things go wrong’.
Jayne appreciated the opportunity DSM offered her, highlighting the company’s strong emphasis on employee development and company culture. DSM has been involved in collaborative research with BABS and the former Department of Biotechnology for more than 40 years, focusing on developing bacteria resistant to bacteriophage infection, as well as optimising downstream processing strategies. Many BABS undergraduates and postgraduates have gone on to work at DSM in various technical and management roles.
Jayne is very happy to be a full-time and committed employee of DSM and appreciative of the diverse and supportive DSM company culture.
Jayne after submitting her Honours thesis
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