Priera Panescu Scott, Ph.D.

Priera (she/her) is passionate about leveraging science and technology to advance food security, improve environmental sustainability, and ensure equitable access and flourishing livelihoods for producers across food and agricultural value chains. Her role at the Good Food Institute focuses on accelerating the plant-based meat industry by analyzing the plant-based protein landscape, identifying emerging technological solutions and bottlenecks, and communicating with other scientists about advancing alternative protein research. She aims to take a “big tent” approach to food system transformation—strongly advocating for inclusive solutions that provide opportunities for farmers, processors, food manufacturers, and consumers alike. Priera has also applied her chemistry background to address issues of minimizing food waste, improving water use in agriculture, reducing agricultural chemical runoff, and, currently, optimizing the sustainability of our global protein supplies. 
Priera has bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and math from the University of California, Santa Cruz as well as a master’s and a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining the Good Food Institute, Priera spent almost a decade focusing on polymer, formulation, and materials chemistry research. Particularly, she honed these skills for food security applications by creating novel sustainable agriculture materials and compounds.