Shannon Schmidt-Combest

Professional Summary

Dr. Combest is Assistant Professor and Extension Food Specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Dr. Combest has a robust background in both academia and industry, specializing in food product development, technical regulatory compliance, and food safety systems.

Dr. Combest holds an M.S. in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University, specializing in microbiological safety assurance, and a Ph.D. in Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University, where she developed a functional flour utilizing brewers spent grain to optimize nutritional profiles in commercial applications. Her postdoctoral research at Texas A&M centered on investigating health-promoting properties of polyphenols from plant matrices for targeted applications in functional foods and chronic disease mitigation.

Before entering academia, Dr. Combest was a Food Technologist at Pecan Deluxe Candy Company, Dallas, where she managed and executed product development projects of innovative food and beverage inclusions. Her work included optimizing production parameters for scale-up and commercialization, as well as implementing process controls to ensure product integrity and regulatory conformity.

In her current Extension role, Dr. Combest is committed to empowering food industry clients across Texas by delivering technical training aligned with food safety standards, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. She serves as a process authority for acidified foods, providing expert guidance on thermal processing, scheduled process development, and regulatory submissions. Dr. Combest leads hands-on workshops and continuing education programs tailored to manufacturers, processors, and food entrepreneurs, with a focus on scaling production, ensuring food safety, and meeting state and federal regulatory requirements. Dr. Combest is passionate about workforce development and industry advancement, actively mentoring professionals and fostering innovation in the Texas food sector