Dr Miranda Mirosa

Biography

n her role as Senior Lecturer, Miranda is responsible for Co-ordinating the Consumer Food Science programme and is the Fourth Year Coordinator (Honours and Postgraduate Diplomas) for the Department of Food Science. Miranda is an interdisciplinarian with a background in marketing and consumer behaviour. Her research aims to understand why people eat what they do, why they don't eat what they don't, and how we might best impact upon these choices to encourage people to choose quality, healthy and environmentally sustainable foods. Miranda is active in research and consulting regularly in areas relating to food waste. She is currently involved in the WASTEMinz (the representative body of the waste and resource recovery sector in New Zealand) National Consumer Food Waste Reduction project. Miranda established the University of Otago Food Waste Innovation Research Group (OUFWIRG) to focus on food waste. It brings together a range of social and pure scientists to discuss the challenges surrounding food waste and how to solve them. Scholarly collaborations are already resulting from the group.

Research Interest

Food loss and food waste (metrics, policy, behaviours, ethics, innovation) Food security Consumer behaviour and food choice Sustainable food consumption Cross cultural research on food preferences Food safety and consumers’ perceptions of risk Consumer perception and high value nutrition The impact of food choice on consumers' health and wellness Foodservice sustainability