Born and raised in Norway, Odd Strandbakken has spent the last years defining Scandinavian cocktail culture at his previous bar HIMKOK in Oslo. On his journey to define his own style of cocktails he found a love for local produce and house-made products that replace manufactured products to reflect the local and unique terroir. Odd is always striving to create tasty, minimalist and clean cocktails using culinary techniques gathered from around the world. His goal to sample the world’s best hospitality and cocktails has brought him to 42 countries and given him experience in distillation, fermentation, brewing and preservation of produce.

Dr. Kevin Peterson has a background in physics, culinary, and engineering. He has been studying perfumery for more than 15 years, and has been the Nose of Sfumato for the last 10. Using natural ingredients and culinary ingredient combinations, Kevin has developed Sfumato's product line, as well as launched projects ranging from scent-paired dinners, scented raves, and a fragrant soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz.

Morgaine looks at food and eating from a social, cultural, economic, trend, branding and geo-political perspective. Her work involves running ideation sessions, consulting to food companies, developing new products and ideas; writing articles/ trend reports for PR and ad agencies; giving public, university and corporate lectures on specific food trends, developing new ideas for food-related TV and radio programs and doing research on all elements of the eating experience from mouth-feel and texture to olfactory perception.

“After writing my first book, Za Za's Scent-Sational Super Power, I had the fortunate opportunity to meet individuals with a variety of smell disorders who educated me on their experiences. In writing my second book, I felt strongly that adults and children have tools to help further conversations around the exploration of the senses. I especially love how the World Taste & Smell Association highlights the importance of our senses and makes the time for focused education,” shared Alexis.

Originally from Nashville, TN, Josh's background is in visual arts, music and performance. After high school, he studied painting and drawing at The Art Institute of Chicago before moving to NYC where he worked as an actor in TV and film.

Gabrielle Marks is a World Taste & Smell Day steering committee member and Marketing Project Manager at Trendincite LLC. Prior to working at Trendincite LLC. Due to a severe head injury as a child, she has anosmia. Gabrielle recently joined the WTSA Events Committee and is looking forward to supporting the WTSA’s mission to educate, celebrate, elevate, and support the two senses. With the events committee, she plans to create inclusive, exciting, informative, and experiential events that are sure to awaken the senses.

Carla Seipp is a fragrance, fashion, and arts journalist. She is also Editor at online publication BeautyMatter and a former writer for trend forecasting agency, The Future Laboratory. Seipp co-edited The Essence: Discovering the World of Scent, Perfume and Fragrance, published by Gestalten. Seipp has written on the subjects of fashion, fragrance, and art for publications including Dazed & Confused, Dazed Digital, A Shaded View on Fashion, Twin, and Vestoj.

Brad Barnes, is a 48-year veteran of the professional kitchen, a Certified Master Chef, and President of Pure Food Consulting, He specializes in strategic business development, serving a multitude of food businesses internationally.

Jenifer is among the founders of both the Smell and Taste Association of North America and World Taste and Smell Day.

Valentina Parma, Ph.D., is an accomplished researcher and Assistant Member at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. She specializes in understanding the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying taste, smell, and chemesthesis, particularly in the context of food preferences and consumption. Her research is guided by a multidisciplinary approach, which integrates psychophysics, neuroimaging, genetics, and cognitive psychology.

Rachel Herz, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and world-leading expert on the psychological science of smell. She is a professional consultant, on the faculty at Brown University, and a TEDx speaker.

Ariella Halperin is the Founder & Creative Director of Storied Senses and a steering comittee memeber for World Taste & Smell Day events.

Dr. Avery N. Gilbert is a scientific pioneer in the area of human odor perception, as well as an entrepreneur and author.

Darryl Do is a highly skilled perfumer with a keen interest in exploring novel applications of fragrance materials. As a graduate from the esteemed perfumery school ISIPCA, located in Versailles, France, Darryl has honed his talent in fragrance creation and developed a deep understanding of the olfactory arts.

Mindy is the Founder & CEO of Perfumarie, a forward-thinking CPG incubator, and serves as the Technical Designer and Producer for AvroKO Amenities. As a co-founder of the World Taste & Smell Association and Silverbrook Manor, a Hudson Valley regenerative farm, she demonstrates an unwavering commitment to social and environmental responsibility, fostering sustainable innovation.

Stephanie Feuer is a writer and marketing executive. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily News, The Boston Herald, Slate, NBC News THINK, Smithsonian Magazine, Narratively, and numerous other outlets and anthologies.

Amy Marks-McGee is an award-winning creative marketing professional with over twenty-five years of success within the Fragrance & Flavor industry. Trendincite LLC is a consulting company to help clients cull through, distill, and translate pertinent trend information into tangible products. Clients include Fragrance & Flavor suppliers, consumer packaged goods manufacturers, and market research firms.

Dan Vinh serves as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where he spearheads initiatives to bolster the CIA brand's culinary leadership, enhance college enrollment, and boost revenue across consumer operations, premier conferences, and consulting services.