{"id":28,"date":"2021-11-29T23:48:25","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T23:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/sflint\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2025-11-03T19:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:29:19","slug":"news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/sflint\/news\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Project Completions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
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Congratulations to Ili Mohd Daud passing her PhD oral examination on 3rd November 2025. Ili’s project examined the use of lemongrass nanoemulsions for the control of biofilms of Bacillus cereus<\/em>. Ili has a number of manuscripts submitted for publication and will be looking for a job in her home country of Malaysia. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to Srinithi Muthuraman<\/strong> passing her PhD oral examination on 22nd October 2025. Srinithi studied the production and composition of EPS of Pseudomonas<\/em> biofilms from the dairy industry, focusing on growth at the air liquid interface and the influence of EPS “footprints”on microbial colonization of stainless steel surfaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Srinithi is now working for Koru Biotech, in Palmerston North developing analytical techniques. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations to Saili Chalke for completing her PhD in December 2024. Saili\u2019s thesis was \u201d The influence of Cations on Biofilm Formation of Listeria monocytogenes. <\/em>Saili is now working for Sanford Ltd in the seafood industry in New Zealand in a role that is related to her PhD study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please join us in congratulating Amila Weligala Pahalagedara<\/strong> from the Food Microbiology\/Biofilm research team in successfully passing his PhD oral examination today, with minor emendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amila\u2019s thesis was \u201cAntimicrobial potential of Clostridium <\/em>and closely related species derived from farm environmental samples\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amila came to us from Sri Lanka and his project was funded by AgResearch. He has recently completed a post doc position in Denmark working in dairy microbiology for Arla Foods. This year (2024) he will be starting another post doc at the Liggins Institute https:\/\/www.auckland.ac.nz\/en\/liggins.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please join us in congratulating Tianyang Wang<\/strong> for passing his PhD oral examination today with minor emendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tianyang thesis was the \u201cThe effect of Calcium and milk formulations on biofilm formation of Geobacillus stearothermophilus<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tianyang\u2019s thesis was funded via a Massey scholarship and supervised by Jon Palmer and Steve Flint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tianyang is now working in our lab at Alpha Group Ltd as a Technical Manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations to Murali Kumar<\/strong> for completing his PhD this year, 2021. Murali’s thesis is “A study of the abiotic factors influencing the biofilm and spore formation of dairy isolates of Geobacillus stearothermophilus<\/em> and characterization of spores based on their heat resistance”. Murali went to a post doc position at the University of Limerick in Ireland before moving to Abbott Laboratories in Ireland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations to Emmanuel Kyere<\/strong> for completing his PhD this year, 2021. Emmanuel’s thesis was “Colonization of lettuce by Listeria monocytogenes and its biofilm formation” Emmanuel is now based in Chicago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please join us in congratulating  David Flossdorf for passing his PhD oral examination with minor emendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David\u2019s thesis was \u201cAnalysis of Dairy Cattle Feed as a Source of Heat Resistant Bacterial Spores in Milk and Evaluation of Contamination Consequences for Milk Quality\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David started his PhD journey in 2017. In 2019, he was awarded the New Zealand Microbiological Society Student Travel Award to attend a conference in Australia and spend some time in Mark Turner\u2019s laboratory at the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights from his study were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n