Food Science Doctoral Student Mayfield Wins 2017 AOCS Analytical Award

Photo by Fred Miller

Food science doctoral student Sarah Mayfield was Bumpers College's First-Ranked Senior Scholar in 2015.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sarah Mayfield, a University of Arkansas food science doctoral student in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and supported by the U of A System Division of Agriculture, has won the American Oil Chemists' Society Analytical Division Student Award for 2017.

She will be presented the award at the AOCS annual meeting and industry showcase in Orlando in May.

The Analytical Division Student Award is an international competition annually awarded to graduate students in the field of lipid analytical chemistry.

Mayfield is presenting the award address, "A Routine, Rapid Analytical Method for Identifying and Quantifying Triacylglycerol Mixtures," May 1.

Working with University Professor of food science Andy Proctor, Mayfield's research focuses on the development of more rapid techniques to identify and quantify lipid molecules in fats and oils. She will use this new technique in her upcoming studies to determine species and location differences in cocoa beans grown in various part of the world.

As an undergraduate, the native of San Antonio, Texas, earned her bachelor's degree in food science, was in the Honors College, won Bumpers College's Honors Student Board Outstanding Thesis competition and was one of the college's First-Ranked Senior Scholars in 2015.

She earned her bachelor's degree in food science in 2015 and received a Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship from the Graduate School and a graduate assistantship funded by the U of A System Division of Agriculture.

AOCS advances the science and technology of oils, fats, surfactants and related materials; and develops and upholds methods of analysis used in global trade and research, conducts proficiency testing and provides reference materials.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.