UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Martin Bucknavage, Penn State Extension senior program specialist for food safety and quality, has been selected to receive a 2024 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance.

The alliance is a broad-based, public-private organization of industry, academic and government stakeholders that was established to develop and provide training and outreach to support the U.S Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act.

Bucknavage, based in the Department of Food Science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was recognized for his leadership and technical expertise in developing the updated version of the Preventive Controls for Human Food curriculum that is used by food operations worldwide to control the safety of food products. He also led the effort to redeploy the alliance’s Technical Assistance Network, reframing it to utilize extension-based professionals throughout the country.

During the alliance’s 2024 annual conference Nov. 19-20, Bucknavage and Rick Kralj, Penn State Extension senior food safety and quality educator, also will receive a group award — the Certificate of Achievement — for recognition of group members’ contributions to the development and review of the alliance’s Preventive Controls for Human Food (version 2.0) curriculum.

In addition, Penn State Extension recently was cited as a top provider of Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance training programs in reaching 1,000 participants in the courses offered since the training was launched.

Penn State Extension is an acknowledged leader in providing training and support to the food industry and its employees. In addition to offering the updated Preventive Controls for Human Foods training, faculty and staff on Extension’s Food Safety and Quality team offer a broad range of training programs aimed at meeting industry needs.