Millions of people face food insecurity. While immediate food aid is crucial, it can risk creating dependency within a food production system and may disempower communities from implementing lasting change.
As a 2025 Schmidt Science Fellow, Jon plans to develop fermentation-ready products to produce nutritious food from local resources, reducing the dependence of crisis-affected communities on external aid and enhancing food security.
Jon will create “fermentation starter kits” using a safe fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, commonly used in foods like soy sauce. Jon will enhance the fungus’s ability to survive harsh conditions and combine it with local raw materials to produce nutritious foods. This could revolutionize humanitarian food aid and empower communities to produce their own food.
Jon will pivot from Biomedical Engineering to Biotechnology