Hello, Internet. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted much of, well … anything. I’m sorry. It’s been a busy few months; I missed you too.
The book came out, and then ran out of stock, then came out again, then ran out again, then again and … well, someone said something about sixth print run recently. No, this does not mean I’m rich. I calculated my hourly salary the other day based on my royalties thus-far: $4.90 / hour.* If you’re not familiar with the book world, this is actually higher than most authors are lucky to ever see. (I didn’t do it for the money…)
What sales like this does mean is that I get a lot of emails from all over the world with random questions, comments, offers (multiple marriage proposals; don’t ask), and suggestions. I love hearing from readers (usually); I love learning who’s reading my book and understanding what they’re thinking.
For most questions, I answer them by turning my stack of trusty literature (and occasionally, www.lmgtfy.com ). But then there are questions like the one below where, frankly, I don’t have the connections to give any good answer.
Getting to the point: does anyone have any recommendations for students looking for food science internships?
*My mom pointed out that I failed to account for expenses. With expenses factored in—direct out-of-pocket costs, like printing review copies—I’m currently at -$0.78 / hour. That is, I’m still in the red… sigh .
I’m a chemistry teacher in NYC. I read your book Cooking for Geeks and attended your talk, and almost concurrently, was approached by one of my top high school chemistry students about opportunities to work, volunteer, learn, or just do something in the field of food chemistry/molecular gastronomy this summer. I immediately wanted to write to you.
My student is smart, independent, and would be up for anything — even just being around this kind of work in a restaurant or lab setting would be interesting for her. The one stipulation is that she does not want to do a home-based project all alone, but, go out and be around people who are doing this sort of thing. She lives in NYC, but, could travel if necessary. She has a great, independent can-do attitude and the maturity of a college student.
Might you have any leads for how she could make something related to food chem/molec gastro part of her summer?