Max Golden is currently a Research Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Food Research Institute. He majored in Microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduating 2012. He began his career working for Kerry Ingredients where he worked in Research and Development in Dairy, Culinary, and Fermented Ingredients departments emphasizing in food safety. For the past five years he has worked at the Food Research Institute overseeing food challenge studies conducted on a wide variety of product categories and human pathogens, in particular specializing in growth inhibition of Clostridium botulinum in ready-to-eat meats and sous-vide products. He has been an active member in IAFP since 2011 including participation in the developing scientist award judging committee and through various research presentations. He has received certifications for FSPCA Preventative Controls and Better Process Cheese School and has also attended workshops including IAFP’s Microbial Challenge Testing for Foods and Ohio State’s Thermal Processing of Ready-to-Eat Meat Products. He has been a part time student over the past four years and plans to pursue a Ph.D in Food Science emphasizing in food safety.