Food Protection Education Database Mission / About Us

The Food Protection Education Resource Database (FPEdb) aims to overcome a shortage of expertise in the United States’ ability to prevent & cope with incidences of intentional food contamination. The FPEdb will overcome this shortage by providing links to educational & informational resources accessible in a single location.

The FPEdb’s parent organization is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Center for Food Protection & Defense (NCFPD) Center of Excellence. The NCFPD is a university-based research center bringing together national academic, industry, and public sector partners to develop ways to enhance our nation's capability to protect the food supply from intentional contamination.

FPEdb Disclaimer:

The purpose of the FPEdb is to make food protection & defense educational & informational resources more accessible in a single location. The purpose of adding curated information to the database is to assist in the efficient searching for relevant resources & materials. Inclusion of a link in the FPEdb does not imply endorsement of a product or resource.

Leadership and Staff:

	Edward Mather, Deputy Director, NFSTC and Professor, Large Animal Clinical Sciences Mather is deputy director of the NFSTC and professor of veterinary medicine with expertise in food animals. He has been deeply involved in research on animal disease and diseases that pass from animals to humans in the food chain. His interest in production agriculture led him to be appointed regional expert in Latin America by the International Atomic Energy Agency/Food and Agriculture Organization. Mather has served on various advisory boards and committees for federal and state government as well as numerous professional organizations. He served as conference coordinator for the international conferences on risk analysis and food safety and pre-harvest food safety at MSU. He has received national awards for teaching and now directs the education program for the National Center for Food Protection and Defence (NCFPD), a Department of Homeland Security consortium of universities led by the University of Minnesota.
	Trent Wakenight, MA, Consortium Coordinator Trent serves as a coordinator of educational and professional development through the NCFPD, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Research and Education Center, and the DHS Integrated Centers of Excellence Network. He participated in the creation of Michigan's Food and Agriculture Protection Strategy. From 2002 – 2004, Trent lead a food safety education program that reached an estimated 3.9 million Michigan consumers. He recived his Masters in Public Relations from Michigan State University and BS in Communication from Hope College.
	Kristie Denbrock Gates, MPA, Educational Program Coordinator Kristie facilitates the Food Protection and Defense distance education course for the Online Professional Masters of Science in Food Safety (ProMS) at the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University. She received her Masters in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and her Mass Communications BS degree from Colorado State University.
	Peggy Trommater, Program Assistant Peggy joins the Education Team at the MSU National Food Safety and Toxicology Center this year in the position of Program Assistant. She divides her role of clerical support among the Center's numerous educational projects, to include support for the NFSTC's participation with the Department of Homeland Security Centers of Excellence.
	Maria Knight Lapinski, Ph.D Professor Lapinski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center who joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 2005. She received her doctorate from MSU and her M.A. from University of Hawaii, Manoa.  Dr. Lapinski researches the impact of persuasive messages on health and environmental risk perceptions and behaviors. In her research, she examines the cultural and social factors that influence the risk communication process. Her teaching interests include: risk and health communication, intercultural communication, persuasion, research methodology, and statistics.
	Marie Rienzo, Research Assistant Marie maintains and updates the food protection education website as well as developing other educational tools and communications.  She is a first year Master’s degree in the Communication program at Michigan State.  Marie graduated from Western Michigan University in 2005 with bachelor degrees in public relations and practical writing.
	Aylin Sayir, Research Assistant Aylin graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2005 with bachelor degrees in Communications and Psychology. Currently she is working on a Master's degree in Health Communication at Michigan State University. As a graduate assistant with the NFSTC Aylin has worked on an audience analysis of farmers and is currently working on evaluation tools and techniques for reality-based exercises or simulations.
	Ed Glazer, Research Assistant Ed is a Doctoral student with the Department of Communication, studying health and risk communication. He is working to develop core competencies and assess the needs of food regulators, to meet their educational needs for food protection and defense. Ed has a bachelor degree in psychology from the Univeristy of Michigan and a Master's degree in Telecommunication from Michigan State University.
	Denis Rochefort, Research Assistant Denis graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with an AAS in Photography and also from Western Kentucky University with a BA in Sociology and History. Currently, he is working on his MA in Mass Communication at Michigan State University.

Link Policy - Quality of Information Guidelines

The links on this site are compiled and updated by FPEdb staff & partners. The materials on this site are provided for general information only, and any reliance upon the material found on this site will be at your own risk. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to particular items in hypertext is not intended to reflect their importance; nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products/services offered on these outside sites or the organizations sponsoring the sites

• FPEdb will strive to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity and integrity of the information that is provided
• FPEdb will review quality of the information to be provided in order to meet these guidelines
• FPEdb is not responsible if information that we make available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. However, FPEdb will strive to ensure that the information disseminated is presented in a substantively accurate, clear, complete & unbiased manner.

When choosing Internet resources for this collection, we follow eight helpful criteria.

• Authority: Who created the site and what are their credentials?
• Affiliation: Who provided the information? Can FPEdb link to the homepage?
• Content : Does the link lead to content or is it an advertisement? Is the information objective? Is it helpful? Is it easy to follow or navigate?
• Purpose : Is it a personal homepage, an advocacy site, a business/marketing site, a news site, or an informational site?
• Audience : Who is this resource geared toward? Is the information appropriate for its intended audience?
• Currency : How old is the information? When was the page created or last updated?
• Comparisons : How does the information compare to other electronic and print sources? Is it accurate and well written?

Linking to FPEdb:

In including a link to FPEdb on your Web site, we invite you to use one of the graphics below. To download to your computer, right-click on the graphic & select “Save Image As.”

These graphics may not be used in any way that implies a relationship with, affiliation with, sponsorship of, or endorsement by FPEdb without the consent of the FPEdb. Additionally, these graphics cannot be used in any way that can reasonably be interpreted to suggest editorial content has been authored by or represents the views or opinions of FPEdb, or to promote any commercial product or service, or in any other way that violates applicable law.

Links to Other Sites

The FPEdb has links to many other Web sites created by public and/or private organizations. These links are provided as a service to others. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the privacy and security policies of the new site. FPEdb is not responsible for the content of any other sites or any products or services that may be offered through other sites. These sites are beyond the control of the FPEdb and may send their own cookies to users, collect data, or solicit personal information. The privacy policies & procedures described here for the FPEdb do not apply to any external links. Users are encouraged to read the privacy policies of any site you link to from ours, especially if you share any personal information.

Prohibitions

FPEdb will not link to any Web site that exhibits hate, bias or discrimination. Furthermore, we reserve the right to deny or remove any link that contains misleading information or unsubstantiated claims, or is determined to be in conflict with FPEdb’s mission or policies.

Security:

FPEdb is to be used only for authorized purposes. Every effort is made to ensure the quality, integrity, and utility of the information on this site while ensuring privacy and security. Only authorized personnel may alter Web pages. Unauthorized use of this system may result in criminal, civil, and/or administrative penalties.

Visitor Information Collected and Stored Automatically

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site, read pages, or download information, the operating system will store certain information about your visit automatically. The FPEdb will not collect personal information such as names or addresses when you visit our Web site. If you choose to provide that information to us it is only used to fulfill your request for information. This technical information is only used to help us make the site more useful for you:

• The Internet domain or the IP address from which you access our Web site (such as "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain). The IP address is a number assigned (usually at random) to your computer by your ISP whenever you access the Internet.
• The type of browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) and operating system (e.g. Windows, UNIX) used to access our site.
• The date and time you access our site.
• The pages you visit.
• If you linked to the FPEdb Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web site.

If You Choose To Send Us Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail to the FPEdb or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through our Web site, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us locate for you the information you have requested. We do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you. The FPEdb does not collect information for commercial marketing.

Site Security

For security purposes and to make sure this service remains available to all users, our web operating system collects information that could help identify someone making unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise damage this website.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, we make no other attempts to identify individual users or their usage habits. We only use raw monitoring data logs for determining trends in usage patterns and in diagnosing systems problems.

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