Ann Colonna

Ann Colonna received her B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona and followed that with a culinary diploma from the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, Colorado and Provence, France.  She continued her education at the University of California, Davis where she earned an M.S. degree with Dr. Ann Noble in Sensory Food Science in 2001 focusing on methods to mask the carry-over effects in the mouth from the astringency in wine.  Since 2002, Ann has served at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, Oregon, an off-campus Oregon State University Experiment Station, where she serves as the Sensory Program Director.  Recent work includes: understanding U.S. consumer preferences for Japanese cold brew green tea, segmenting consumers based on food choice motivations, cross cultural acceptance and product benefit expectations involving kombucha and barley tea; defining market acceptance of U.S. grown tea in Japan, Taiwan and Korea; investigating U.S. preferences for 10 Taiwanese green, black and oolong teas, among others.