How to Make an Impossible Burger

Celeste Holz-Schietinger, Ph.D., leads Innovation at Impossible Foods. Celeste joined Impossible Foods in its early years over 10 years ago. She leads a team that designs, innovates, and develops plant-based products and flavor systems that satisfy the cravings of the most passionate carnivores. Her and her team have made many world-changing discoveries, including the identification that meat flavor is generated by a molecule called Heme, and the use of Heme to create delicious plant-based meats. Her team has invented Impossible plant-based beef, chicken, pork, and sausage to meet consumers' needs while driving toward a more sustainable food system. Her inventions in microbial flavor generation were also fundamental in creating Kite Hill, a plant-based dairy company.   

Celeste, before Impossible Foods, led research and mentorship programs in Enzymology, Biochemistry, Genetics, and Environmental Science at UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and the University of Georgia, and has published multiple papers. She has a B.S. in Evolution and Molecular Biology from Evergreen State College and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UC Santa Barbara.

She is an inventor, educator, chef, and athlete, and is passionate about creating solutions that allow humans to live more sustainably.