This installment of Dissertation Diaries highlights Kirsten Trinidad, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture. Before joining Tufts, Trinidad completed a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University.
Following the completion of her undergraduate degree, Trinidad worked as an engineer conducting packaging work at L’Oreal and Shiseido. However, she remarked that she found the role unfulfilling, saying she “felt as though [she] was adding to current sustainability issues [regarding] plastic waste.”
Aware of the plastic waste issue, Trinidad began reading up on sustainable packaging solutions. This was how she first stumbled upon life cycle assessments, which are analyses of “environmental impact over the course of the entire life cycle of a product, material, process, or other measurable activity.”
Kirsten Trinidad is pictured.
Her discovery of life cycle assessment then introduced her to the advancing cultivated meat industry. Cultivated meat is a product of cellular agriculture, which, according to the Center for Cellular Agriculture, is the “cultivation of agricultural commodities from cells rather than whole animals.” This can be achieved through biotechnologies such as cell culture and tissue engineering.
Trinidad’s doctoral project centers around life cycle assessments for cultivated meat, with her research seeking to “verify any results and make comparative assertions between real animal and cultivated animal [meat]” regarding sustainability. She believes that great sustainability gains can be achieved if we eliminate the animal from the equation, noting that current meat-processing systems — such as those for cattle — emit substantial greenhouse gases, including methane. As environmental sustainability has come to the forefront of the scientific conversation, life cycle assessments for cultivated meat are becoming increasingly valuable.
Reflecting on the value of life cycle assessments, Trinidad spoke about her interest in how sustainability research is translatable to the growing green technology sector. She believes research like hers can encourage the expansion and integration of green technologies into the modern world.
In addition to her research, Trinidad has taught and developed courses for the biomedical engineering department at Tufts. In 2021, with the collaboration of Professor David Kaplan and three now-graduated students, Trinidad co-instructed Cellular Agriculture & Biofabricated Foods. She also co-designed a new biomedical engineering course titled Circularity & Sustainability in Bioprocess Design, with alumna Dr. Amanda Baryshyan (E’08, EG’13).
Trinidad remarked that designing the course wasn’t easy, but she knew it was necessary as she saw a “lack of teaching materials” regarding sustainability in the field of biomedical engineering. She hoped that the course would teach students about sustainability and how it can be quantified and provide students with real-world examples of what its industrial application might look like.
“I co-developed that class in my third year of my Ph.D., and at that point, you have a pretty good handle on what you’re doing,” Trinidad reflected. She found herself being forced to relearn long-forgotten topics in order to communicate them effectively to her students. In doing so, she learned the value of science communication within the classroom. The process of breaking down complex topics into simpler terms also helped her understand how to communicate her own research more effectively.
Other than her graduate studies, Trinidad is also training with the Tufts Marathon Team for the 2026 Boston Marathon. “The Tufts Marathon Team has offered me the opportunity to run the marathon with so many people over the years … this year it’s 15 really strong-willed individuals that are running,” Trinidad said. She extends her praise to the running coach, Don Megerle, for his continued support and encouragement within the program.
Reflecting on her busy time at Tufts, from sustainability research to training for a marathon, Trinidad joked that it can be “definitely a different type of crazy.” Despite her busy schedule, she believes that all of the different aspects of her life have complemented each other well.
When asked if she had any final advice for aspiring Ph.D. candidates, Trinidad encouraged students not to be shy. Reach out to researchers, show genuine interest in their work and “put your foot through the door.”
