USC Dornsife News

Economics alumnus Owen Han’s recipe videos have garnered him a social media following of nearly 7 million and a cookbook deal.

Free, one-stop resource, tailored for the Los Angeles market, offers tools for creating business plans, funding guidance and help with obtaining permits and licenses.

Nearly a quarter of Los Angeles County households experienced food insecurity over the last 12 months — up 7 percentage points since the end of 2021, according to a new study released by USC Dornsife’s Public Exchange.

USC Dornsife professor Sarah Portnoy and USC Annenberg professor Amara Aguilar also collaborate on a related course teaching students how to use digital media to share oral histories.

Vallery Lomas ’07 left her career as a lawyer to focus on baking — and won the “Great American Baking Show.” Now she’s an acclaimed cookbook author.

Mark Padoongpatt ’11, a professor of Asian American studies, turned his Ph.D. thesis into a book on Thai immigrants that landed him air time on the Hulu show hosted by Padma Lakshmi. [5 ½ min read]

A Maymester class uses food as a vehicle for understanding the diversity, cultures and history of one of the world’s culinary hot spots — even during the COVID-19 lockdown. [4¼ min read]

Why are students in an introductory science course setting cheese puffs on fire? To understand biology fundamentals, of course. [4 min read]

How much do microbes control our internal climate, and can we manipulate the microbiome to adjust the thermostat? [7½ min read]