Professor of Biology Romi Burks continues “chocolating” her way through her sabbatical. On October 6th, she gave an invited talk at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, the largest professional gathering of fine chocolate professionals. Taken place on the Fine Chocolate Industry Association’s stage, the talk “you say cacao, I say cocoa” chronicles her work on and vision for the Fine Chocolate Glossary project. Burks left for 3 weeks in London, where she will judge within the UK’s premier organization, The Academy of Chocolate. All of this travel and networking will contribute to her book project “Journey into Chocolate,” coauthored by Indi Chocolate owner and entrepreneur Erin Andrews.

Professor of Biology Romi Burks and chocolate pedagogy enthusiast gave two invited presentations this past weekend at the Dallas Chocolate Festival, which featured a theme of “The Dream of Chocolate.” On Saturday, Burks spoke about her work as the Chair of the Fine Chocolate Glossary project within the Fine Chocolate Industry Association with a title - Chocolate “Definitions” - the dream of developing a common language. On Sunday, Burks stepped 48 guests through “How to Taste Chocolate like a Competition Judge” talk where participants learned about criteria for fine chocolate. When not giving presentations, Burks staffed a booth to talk to the attendees about the Fine Chocolate Glossary. Pictures can be found on her ProfRomi Instagram and other social media platforms.

Professor of Biology Romi Burks attended the Fine Chocolate Industry Association meeting in New York City on Saturday, June 24th. She led a “Lunch and Learn” interactive presentation on the Fine Chocolate Glossary project during that time. Visual art major Ryan Tanner ’25 designed the new logo for the glossary and helped craft two display posters as part of her summer internship. The FCIA session titled “Chocolate: I do not think it means what you think it means” plays off the famous quote about the inconceivable from The Princess Bride. Drawing on that, Burks wrote a blog post about her thoughts on taking over the leadership of the Glossary project. This open-access resource recruits professionals in the chocolate industry to author entries based on their experience and research, and each entry can then receive feedback and revision. The project seeks to establish a common language within the world of fine chocolate. Being part of the project and networking within the chocolate industry contributes directly to Burks’ sabbatical plans to write a mainstream book on chocolate.

Professor of Biology Romi Burks engaged in a number of off-campus presentations in February about her research on apple snails and environmental DNA and also her passion and philosophy of teaching through chocolate. The chocolate events occurred in person, while the science talks occurred as part of a federal government-sponsored workshop and a Texas-based science podcast. On February 12: Not Just a Casual Love Affair: How to Cultivate a Real Relationship with Chocolate; Lecture and tasting at the Rockport Center for the Arts, February 17: Biology & Chemistry of Chocolate; Lecture and tasting for Westwood High School Enrichment Program, February 21st: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t? Using eDNA to confirm removal of invasive snails by local agency; APHIS-USDA 2023 Apple Snail Workshop, and February 24th: Science Stories Podcast (Live on community radio station KZSM) with Dr. Mateo Garcia, a postdoctoral researcher at Texas State University.

Professor of Biology and 2022 London Faculty Romi Burks gave an invited presentation on October 22 on chocolate education entitled “Making the word chocolate mean more to everyone” at the first edition of the Latin American International Festival of Chocolate and Cocoa in Europe. This event took place in partnership with The Chocolate Story Museum and WOW/Vinte Vinte at their location in the cultural district in Vila Nova de Gaia in Porto, Portugal. During the following week (October 26-27), Burks participated as an invited judge for filled chocolates at The Academy of Chocolate awards back in London.