Professor Maria Marco is a microbiologist with expertise in fermented foods, probiotics, and the human microbiome. Dr. Marco’s research is investigating the microorganisms and processes responsible for making fermented foods and elucidating how foods and probiotic bacteria impact human health. Dr. Marco is leading international efforts to increase shared knowledge on fermented foods, including recognition of the central roles these foods have in traditional diets. In fall 2021 she will co-teach “Radical Storywork: Performing Food Sovereignty through Inuit Fermentation Culture” with Professor Jessica Perea, which advances Inuit knowledges and performing arts processes as a means to unsettle and expand dominant modes of knowledge production in food science research.