Profile

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Abi Aspen Glencross

Curriculum Vitae

  • Work History:

    Model – Oxygen Model Management (Feb 2015 – present); Food Events Manager (Oct 2015 – Jan 2016); Research Student – University of Bath Chemical Engineering Department (Jan 2014 – Jun 2014 & Mar 2012 – Jun 2012); Jacobs Consultancy/Jacobs Engineering – Process Engineer (Jul 2012 – Aug 2013)

  • Current Job:

    Cellular Agriculture PhD Student

  • Employer:

    King’s College London, UK; Maastricht University, NL; New Harvest, US

  • My Work

    I’m a cellular agriculturalist researcher which means……I GROW MEAT IN THE LAB! Steak is my specialty.

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    Heya! My name is Abi Aspen and I love science, food, art, design and engineering.

    So maybe it makes sense why I make meat in the lab. Maybe I should explain a little more.

    I am actually from a rural background and now live in London where I work as a cellular agriculturalist.

    Cellular Agriculture (noun)

    The creation of animal products without animals.

    And you might think “how has someone who has grown up so close to nature ended up doing something seemingly so unatural?” right?

    Well that takes us back to our beef with animal agriculture and how we now produce, source and consume food. Coming from Cornwall I always thought animals lived outdoors in fields. Then I found out 70-98% of animals in Europe are factory farmed and not only is our population growing so is the amount of meat we all eat! So this is only going to get worse.

    So now I am researching a way to grow steak and hopefully teach a bit more about our current food system along the way!

     

     

     

  • My Typical Day: Singing Duran Duran to my cells, designing experiments, cycling, writing talks, purple latex gloves, creating exhibitions, intriguing seminars, meat, meeting the most amazing array of incredible people, adventuring

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  • What I'd do with the money

    Take two science boffins, a large interactive fake steak, and a whole host of experiments to examine the way we view food and how we are building meat from scratch, one cell at a time.

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    Do we really know what meat is? What makes meat, well…..meaty? What creates that caramel brown colour of your sizzling steak? What part of a cow do burgers come from? How many chickens cross the road to make a chicken kiev?

    To answer these questions, we’ve got to deconstruct our food.

    And then reconstruct it again.

    Take two science boffins, a large interactive fake steak, and a whole host of experiments to examine the way we view food and how we are building meat from scratch, one cell at a time.

    ——–

    The money will go into a travelling workshop stopping at a number of 2016 festivals (think along the lines of Shufflefest, Green Man, Shambala and Bestival!), schools and events whereby you, the audience, become a food engineer. Let’s don our lab coats and delve a little deeper into the world of animal agriculture.

    Play with our huge steak and pull it apart to unearth what makes up meat tissue. Deconstruct exactly what goes into a burger with our ‘guess the ingredient’ bar, and then delve into how medical engineering methods can be used to form real animal products without using animals. This is cellular agriculture at its most accessible and exciting, and The Boffins are ready to explore it with you!

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Gangly. Dancing. Nerd.

      What's the best thing you've done in your career?

      I think it’s more what I’m doing as an engineer. We have entered a stage and are now combining science and engineering with art and design. At school I didn’t even know this was a thing. Science and engineering is not set as we once thought. It is not just working in a lab or at a desk, just as art is not just painting and design is not just building houses. Cellular agriculture needs all these disciplines to progress. One day I’m feeding my cells, the next designing an exhibition, giving a talk or meeting with designers to create bioreactors. If you feel a career doesn’t exist, make it exist. The world needs free creative thinkers, and they come in many forms. I feel the best thing I am doing, and can do, is teach that.

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      I actually wanted to be a presenter on the TV show ‘Countryfile’. Sort of almost got there as I get to present arty-science to awesome audiences! I also wanted to be a dragon at one point. I was pretty young…let’s maybe not mention that.

      Were you ever in trouble at school?

      Is this where I’m supposed to say I was a model student? I wasn’t horrid I was just a little naughty. Like eating the teacher’s lunch when they weren’t looking. I got better in college. Then I only ate their bananas.

      If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

      Ironically I wasn’t planning to be an engineer up until my final project of my Masters and now I can’t imagine it any other way. Probably a presenter on Countryfile or another nature programme. Oh gosh something with David Attenborough, he’s a total babe.

      Who is your favourite singer or band?

      Oh gosh so eclectic! I really got into electronic music this year (never thought I would say that!) as a couple of my flatmates are DJ’s and I worked the festival scene. However I love everything from Paul Kalkbrenner and FourTet (DJ’s) to Beaty Heart, Jungle and Duran Duran. As long as you can boooogie.

      What's your favourite food?

      Sorry it’s got to be fave food-s. I’m crackers about honey roasted peanut butter, homemade is the best! Spread with homemade wild strawberry jam on sourdough bread. Or alternatively the blood orange cake from our local café Esters. *Insert drool here*. Cornish Breakfast Tea. Always the breakfast tea (I say as slurping on a very large mug). Crispy kale! Oh and hot chocolate oatly milk. It’s the best milk alternative we’ve found, it’s like catnip for my housemates and I. We are passionate about good food sourcing :D

      What is the most fun thing you've done?

      Outside of engineering? Oooh tough. I think there are two that stand out. I went on the TV show Winter Wipeout once where you run around get absolutely destroyed my large inflatable things. So. Much. FUN! I made a load of cool friends and had a blast. I also modelled in London Fashion week one year in a massive Lego Dress which was pretty groovy! Actually last year for the first time I worked the festival circuit which was incredible. Just whimsical dancing and lots of glitter for the summer! However they all definitely needed more science! Too many fun things :D

      Tell us a joke.

      I think this might be embarrassing and awkward for everyone involved :)

Questions answered by Abi Aspen

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