Super special thanks to my "plating buddies" Genevieve Edwards and Danielle Johnson -I'm not sure there are enough thank you's to express my gratitude for your help. I would be remiss if I didn't thank my other sources of support: the sushi crew of Lauren Chauvin, Julie Amador, and Tristan Colonius for food therapy and sanity; Alisa Todd, for letting me complain endlessly and for always keeping our goal in focus; David Lando for online Zen; Dr. Jack Losso, for all of the little details

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... to be a successful food scientist and human being; Mrs. Laura Savage and Mrs. iv Stephanie Jones, for always helping me with the confusing travel forms; Mrs. Terri Gilmer and Mrs. Bonnie Mann, for all of their help and humor and for the temporary Danielle loan. Dr. Witoon Prinyawiwatkul and his lab for letting me use their spectrophotometer. Lastly, Drs. Robert and Mary Grodnerit was truly an honor to receive such a generous scholarship. However, none of this would have been possible without the loving support of my family. They believed in me and encouraged me throughout the entire process and it is humbling to know how much they have sacrificed for me to pursue this degree. There are no words to express my gratitude for the gift they have given to me. To my mother, Dolores Dyess for showing me limitless optimism, unfailing love and for Friday night decompression time; to my sister Monica Brittain and my niece Elizabeth Lowe for being my greatest cheerleaders and for always forgiving my negligence as a sister and an aunt; and finally, to my amazing husband Stanley Hazard, who has worn the most hats during the last two years: editor extraordinaire, head chef, computer tech, bodyguard during the late night trips to the Ag Chem building, nurse, and best friendyou give me the strength to be the best I can be.