Biography

Amy Rowat is an Associate Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Broad Stem Cell Research Center, Bioengineering Department, Center for Biological Physics, and Business of Science Center. Rowat holds degrees from Mount Allison University (B.Sc. Honours Physics, 1998; B.A. Asian Studies, French, & Math, 1999), the Technical University of Denmark (M.Sc. Chemistry, 2000), and the University of Southern Denmark (Ph.D. Physics, 2005). She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics/ Division of Engineering & Applied Science, Harvard University as well as Brigham Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, such as the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER development award, and has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications and 4 patents. In addition to her commitment to research, Rowat has also pioneered the use of examples from food and cooking as vehicles for teaching sophisticated physics concepts to a general audience. She is founder and director of Science & Food, an organization based at UCLA that promotes knowledge of science through food and food through science. Rowat is also the leader of the Food Pod of the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative.