Postdoctoral Fellow
Marelli Lab
Yagmur is a post-doctoral associate in Civil and Environmental Engineering working with Dr. Benedetto Marelli in the Laboratory for Advanced Biopolymers. After receiving her B.S. in Food Engineering in her home country, Turkey, she attended Texas A&M University to complete her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Her research interests are biomaterials-based innovations in agriculture, food security, and food safety. She is working toward designing new solutions to enhance the preservation and safety of perishable foods.
Yagmur’s innovative research and communication efforts have enabled her to achieve an excellent academic record along with numerous honors and awards. She has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, patents, and book chapters. Yagmur has received many prestigious awards, such as the “Outstanding Graduate Student and Academic Excellence Award” from Texas A&M University, the “Susan M. Arseven ‘75 Make-A-Difference Memorial Award” from Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), the 1st place winner of an oral presentation competition at the ACS Spring 2019 Meeting, a Graduate Student Scholarship from the IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) Feeding Tomorrow Scholarship Program, the Peanut Proud Scholarship Award from IAFP (International Association for Food Protection), a Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Scholarship and a KANEKA Scholarship from the Polymer Technology Center at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), and additional travel awards for conferences.
Yagmur also gained significant industrial experience via internships. She spent 10 months away from home working in R&D facilities and manufacturing plants at Kellogg Company.
Outside of work, Yagmur enjoys cooking, shopping, road trips, volunteering at charitable organizations, and spending time with her family and friends. She is excited to work with students and postdocs on communication at MIT.