# Talks ## Talks *The science of chocolate: from fermentation to non-equilibrium physics,* Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, Lima, Peru, June **2025**. (invited) *The science of fermentation,* MIL Restaurante, Maras, Peru, June **2025**. (invited) *The science of chocolate: from fermentation to non-equilibrium physics,* Central Restaurante, Lima, Peru, June **2025**. (invited) *An appetite for the past,* Yale University, New Haven, CT, February **2025**. (invited) *The science of cooking with microbes,* Whitney Center, New Haven, CT, February **2025**. (invited) *A Taste of Chocolate: From Fermentation to Non-equilibrium Physics,* Kavli Foundation Special Symposium, American Physical Society Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, March **2024**. (invited) *Fermentation and Non-equilibrium Physics,* MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, March **2024**. (online) *The Potential of Kokumi Peptides as a New Taste Enhancer in Gastronomy?* Science & Cooking World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, November **2023**. (invited) *Elasticity and the Science of Noodles – a Science and Cooking Sample Lesson,* Science & Cooking World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, November **2023**. (invited) *Science, Cooking, and Online Learning in an Ageing World,* Oxford University, Oxford, U.K, February **2023**. (invited, online) *Science and Cooking at Harvard -- What's New?* Science & Cooking World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, November **2022**. (invited) *The Biggest Class in the World?* North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, October **2022**. (invited, online) *Science and Cooking at Harvard -- What's New?* Science & Cooking World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, November **2021**. (invited) *The "Ribbon" Stage : Shedding Light onto an Ill-defined Culinary Marker*, Science & Cooking World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, November **2021**. (invited) *Microbes, Molecules, and Multisensory Perception: Teaching Flavor with Food Fermentations,* Talking Sense, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark, September **2021**. (invited) *The Science of Cooking with Microbes,* Das Symposium, Berlin, Germany, September **2021**. (invited; zoom) *Food Microbiology, Brewing and Art,* Boston Bacterial Meeting Panel (with Ben Wolfe and Mehmet Berkmen), Cambridge, MA, June **2021**. (invited; zoom) *Squeeze that Kraut: Comparing student perceptions in an experiential fermentation-based course taught remotely and in-person.* LInC Exchange, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May **2021**. (invited; zoom) Podcast "Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria", March **2021**. (invited; podcast) \[[link](https://www.carasantamaria.com/podcast/pia-sorensen)\] *The science of banana bread.* Harvard Food Alumni Association, March **2021**. (invited; zoom) *The science of take-out.* Chronicle WCVB Podcast and Program, Boston, MA, February **2021**. (invited; [podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chronicle-the-podcast/id1448745583#episodeGuid=chronicle5.podbean.com/44276005-32d3-32dc-9f3f-64829a09cc1f))\[[link](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-science-of-takeout-ft-dr-pia-sorensen/id1448745583?i=1000509618127); [link](https://www.wcvb.com/article/talking-takeout-drizly-steps-you-can-take-to-make-your-meals-second-round-as-fresh-as-the-first/35541443)\] *Food, Fermentation, and Flavor: Tools for Science Education and Outreach.* Science Education Department, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, February **2021**. (invited; zoom) \[[link](https://youtu.be/R_iNxttylow)\] *Cooking with Science: Why eggs turns white, pickles crunch, and popcorn sets off your smoke detector.* Podcast "[Science Rules](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1460716677)" with Bill Nye, February **2021**. (invited; podcast)\[[link](https://www.stitcher.com/show/science-rules-with-bill-nye/episode/cooking-with-science-why-eggs-turn-white-pickles-crunch-and-popcorn-sets-off-your-smoke-detectors-200219114)\] *Science and cooking: Physics meets food, from homemade to haute cuisine*. Science Magazine Podcast, Science, Vol 370, Issue 6516, pp 538, October, **2020**. (invited; podcast)\[[link](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6516/538.2)\] *How can half a degree ruin my eggs?* Museum of Science Podcast, Boston, MA, October **2020**.(invited; podcast)\[[link](https://www.mos.org/mos-at-home/pulsar/how-can-half-a-degree-ruin-my-eggs)\] *NYC is a tightly packed jar of sauerkraut.* Cooking Issues, Episode 428, Heritage Radio Network, October **2020**. (invited; podcast) \[[link](https://heritageradionetwork.org/episode/nyc-tightly-packed-jar-sauerkraut-feat-pia-sorenson-david-weitz)\] *Science & Cooking.* Doctor Radio, Heritage Radio Network, October **2020**.(invited; podcast) *Spices in Mesopotamian Food.* Fermentology Series, North Carolina State University, September **2020**. (invited)(zoom) *Food in Ancient Mesopotamia: An Experimental Approach.* Boston University, Boston, June **2020**.(invited)(zoom) Boston Bacterial Meeting -- Panel on Food Science, Cambridge, MA, July **2020**. (invited)(zoom) *From the BCC to Harvard and back: a tale of scientific serendipity and collaboration.* Basque Culinary Center, San Sebastian, Spain, June **2020**. (invited)(zoom) *Introductory Lecture to “Science and Cooking at UTEC*.” University of Technology and Engineering, Lima, Peru, August **2019**. (invited)(zoom) Boston Bacterial Meeting -- Breakout Session on Food Science (with Ronn Friedlander and John Gibbons), Cambridge, MA, June **2019**. (invited) *Science of Fermentation*. Space Fermentation Workshop, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, June **2019**. (invited) *Food fermentations: a curiosity driven teaching approach for integrated chemistry and biology education*. Amherst College, Amherst, MA, May **2019**.(invited) *Chefs, Scientists, Education: Gastronomy as a Teaching and Learning Tool*. Gastro-Science-Chef, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, June **2018**. *Babylonian Cooking.* with Gojko Barjamovic, Patricia Jurado Gonzalez, Chelsea Graham, Agnete Wisti Lassen, and Nawal Nasrallah. An Appetite for the Past, New York University, New York, NY, May **2018**. *Invisible Chefs*. with Roberto Kolter. Harvard Ed Portal, Allston, MA, November **2017**.(invited) *Facilitating Ancient Arts and Modern Sciences.* with Gojko Barjamovic. Food Design Symposium, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October **2017**. *Science of Ceviche. Spoon University,* New York, NY, August **2017**. (invited) \[[link to video](https://www.facebook.com/SpoonUniversity/videos/1830959700266259/)\] *Science and Cooking: from Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science.* 50th Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Reunion, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May **2017**. (invited) *Gelation, sous-vide, and caramelization.* With Chef Tim Ma. 6th Annual Squishy Physics Saturday, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, March **2017**. \[[link to video](http://squishy.physics.gatech.edu/6th-squishy-physics-saturday/)\] (invited) *Teaching science with a meal from Restaurant CENTRAL.* Momento Andes, Urubamba, Peru, February **2017**. \[[link to video](https://www.facebook.com/inkaterrahotels/videos/10155050941524184/)\] (invited) *Multisensory Aspects of Flavor.* Master in Design Engineering Program, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, September **2016**. *Science and Cooking: from Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science.* Harvard College Parents Leadership Weekend, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, April **2016**. *Using Food to Teach Science*, Foodbetter Harvard, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, April **2016**. (invited) *Molecular Gastronomy in the Classroom: Teaching Science through Food and the Culinary Arts*, 27th Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium, National Academy of Sciences, Irvine, CA, November **2015**. (invited) *Molecular Gastronomy in the Classroom: Teaching Science through Food and the Culinary Arts*, Hertz East Coast Retreat, Cambridge, MA, October **2015**. (invited) *On Mentorship.* Invited panelist at the Women’s Faculty Reception organized by The Seneca, Inc., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October **2015**. *Molecular Gastronomy in the Classroom: Teaching Science through Food and the Culinary Arts*, Center for Cancer Systems Biology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School, Gloucester, MA, September **2015**. (invited featured speaker) *Teaching Heat Transfer and Diffusion with Molten Chocolate Cake.* Workshop at the General Education Program retreat, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, July **2015**. *Creativity and Innovation: Combining Science & Culinary Arts in the Classroom*, TechConnect World Innovation, Washington, DC, June **2015**. (invited) *Science and Cooking.* Presentation to Allston community and live broadcast, Harvard EdPortal, March 25th, Allston, MA, March **2015**. *Coca Cola, Cottage Cheese and the Science of Cooking.* Presentations to 8th graders for the Harvard initiative Project TEACH, Cambridge, MA, March 2014, March **2015**. *Smoke and Flavor.* Presentation to students in Engineering Sciences 96: Engineering Problem Solving and Design Project, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, January **2015**. *Science and Cooking.* Presentation to local science enthusiasts for the graduate student lead initiative Science by the Pint, Cambridge, MA, January **2015**. *Science and Cooking.* Presentation to middle school students for the student lead initiative Food for Kids, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, December **2014**. *Harvard’s Science and Cooking Course: How Creating an Online Class Put the Sizzle on On-campus Teaching*, North American Conference on Education, Providence, Rhode Island, September **2014**. (invited featured speaker) *The Science of Lemonade*, American Association of Chemistry Teachers, Webinar, September **2014**. (invited) *Science and CookingX: A Preceptor’s Perspective on the Development and Application of an Online Course*. Harvard University Life Sciences Preceptor Retreat, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, May **2014**. *Bringing Science & Cooking to EdX*. HarvardX Town Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, November **2013**. *The Science of Cooking*, The Kavli Foundation, Webinar, October **2013**. (invited) *Science & Cooking for High School*. Experiment based presentation to high school students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, MA, March **2012**. *The Science of Cocktails*. SEAS Alumni Event, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, October **2011**. *About Science & Cooking*. SEAS Alumni Event, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, July **2011**. *Deconstructed Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich*. Ivy League Dean Engineering Summit, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, MA, July **2011**. *Cucurbitacin, an actin aggregator and cytokinesis inhibitor*. Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, February **2009**. *The natural product cucurbitacin inhibits cytokinesis and aggregates actin*. Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, April **2008**. *Searching for the target of cucurbitacin.* Research Presentation. Chemical Biology Program Retreat, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, October **2008**. ## Television & Youtube *The science of take-out.* Chronicle WCVB, Boston, MA, February **2021.** *The science of brownies.* Adam Ragusea Food, February **2021**. \[[link](https://youtu.be/5rY7IWLshAI) and [link](https://youtu.be/qpF5B_jHZrw)\] Consulting for the Michael Pollan and Alex Gibney four-part documentary “Cooked”, produced by Netflix and Jigsaw Productions, premiering February 2016. Discussions took place Spring **2015**. *About Science & Cooking*. Bizarre Foods, Travel Channel, July **2011**.