{"id":202049,"date":"2023-08-10T07:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T11:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=202049"},"modified":"2023-08-18T12:24:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T16:24:23","slug":"jonathan-schmitt-expands-nutritional-science-knowledge-at-puris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/08\/jonathan-schmitt-expands-nutritional-science-knowledge-at-puris\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Schmitt Expands Nutritional Science Knowledge at PURIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Schmitt \u201825 (CAHNR<\/a>), a nutritional science major minoring in professional sales leadership, wanted an internship that allowed him to explore his dual interests in nutrition and business. PURIS did just that.<\/p>\n

Schmitt has spent his summer interning at PURIS, getting hands-on experience with every aspect of food product development from design to sales.<\/p>\n

PURIS is a leading producer of plant-based ingredients that specializes in non-GMO, organic, and sustainable options. Notably, PURIS operates the largest pea protein facility in North America, located in Dawson, Minnesota. PURIS CEO Tyler Lorenzen \u201908 (BUS), is also a UConn alum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that it was multifaceted, where it had the science portion that I wanted with nutrition, but it was also marketing, and business and more of that side of things too,\u201d Schmitt says. \u201cSo, I was really excited to apply and excited when I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This summer, Schmitt has been developing \u00a0multitude of plant-based products for PURIS. Schmitt was responsible for consulting peer-reviewed research on plant-based compounds, like functional additives and certain amino acids, to determine different inclusions that can be used for his projects. Schmitt is also designing the product\u2019s packaging and marketing it.<\/p>\n

Schmitt says that during this process, his supervisor was receptive to his ideas, a value he\u2019s found throughout PURIS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unique when you get an internship experience where you\u2019re so respected and there\u2019s so much trust placed in you this early on,\u201d Schmitt says.<\/p>\n

Schmitt has also been testing PURIS\u2019 plant-based protein powders under various conditions to determine, for example, how much water can be added to the powder and still end up with an emulsified drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not something I’m used to, and I think it\u2019s something I\u2019ll be able to carry with me forever now that I have this dual understanding of things \u2013 food science and nutrition,\u201d Schmitt says.<\/p>\n

Schmitt has been working alongside another CAHNR (College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources) intern, Naniel Scott,<\/a> all summer at PURIS. As the resident nutritional science experts at PURIS, Schmitt says their input has been valued by the employees, who mostly have food science backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re kind of like the experts in that field and they treat us like that too,\u201d Schmitt says. \u201cIt\u2019s really, really cool to have that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

PURIS has hosted interns for the past five years and this is the first time they are from UConn. Each summer, the company provides interns with hands-on and diverse experience within the company. This allows the interns to gain valuable experience, and PURIS benefits from the innovative ideas the interns bring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really helps for us to keep that talent pool full because that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to drive innovation,\u201d says Kushal Chandak, vice president of research and development at PURIS.<\/p>\n

Schmitt says after graduation he hopes to work in a role similar to what he did at PURIS, with even greater emphasis on sales which would allow him to explain the nutritional science behind products to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019ve worked with this company, it shows how much I can do, the capacity I have as a professional,\u201d Schmitt says. \u201cI think the opportunity I\u2019ve had here and the connection\u2019s I\u2019ve made here, it seems like a huge steppingstone to get into a serious professional career.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow <\/em>UConn CAHNR<\/em><\/a> on social media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An internship with a plant-based food company allows UConn students to sharpen skills in nutrition and business<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":202050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2224,2301,1862,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-202049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-cahnr","category-nutritional-sciences","category-busn","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 04:30:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202049"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202622,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202049\/revisions\/202622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/202050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202049"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=202049"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=202049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}