The College of Agriculture welcomes six new faculty members for Fall 2026 semester

Amelia Ahles, a new assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, brings expertise in human behavior and decision-making within food and agricultural systems. Ahles earned her bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Clemson University in just three years, followed by a master’s degree in agricultural and resource economics at the University of Tennessee and a PhD in agricultural economics at Texas A&M University. Her research uses behavioral and experimental economic methods to explore decision-making across agriculture, food choice, health and nutrition, labor, charitable giving, neuroeconomics and sustainability. Before joining Purdue, Ahles was a postdoctoral research fellow at Oklahoma State University (OSU), where she conducted a statewide needs assessment of OSU Extension to better understand needs of Oklahomans, and also studied how information shapes consumer preferences and voting decisions on food and agricultural issues.   Ahles is looking forward to collaborating with Purdue colleagues, students and stakeholders to identify important challenges facing consumers and producers. Beyond her academic research, Ahles is a food enthusiast who enjoys hosting dinner parties and tinkering with new recipes in the kitchen.

Victoria Uyanga has joined the Department of Animal Sciences as an assistant professor of poultry science. Her passion for agriculture began in her home country of Nigeria, where she grew up around crop cultivation and farm animals. After completing a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from the University of Uyo, Uyanga pursued a master’s degree in animal physiology from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, followed by doctoral training at Shandong Agricultural University in China. Her research focuses on poultry nutrition, physiology and immunology, with an emphasis on improving health, productivity, resilience and welfare in antibiotic-free production systems. Her work also explores functional amino acids, feed additives, sustainable feed ingredients and strategies to help poultry respond to challenges such as heat stress and intestinal health. Before joining Purdue, Uyanga completed postdoctoral training in poultry nutrition and immunology at Iowa State University and served as an assistant professor at Lincoln University of Missouri. She is excited to build an interdisciplinary poultry research program at Purdue while teaching and mentoring students and collaborating with industry partners. Outside of her professional pursuits, Uyanga enjoys learning about different cultures through cooking and traveling, reading fiction, listening to music and staying active through taking walks and swimming.

Ryan Folk, a recent addition to the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, comes to Purdue from Mississippi State University, where he was an associate professor and herbarium curator. His work earned recognition such as an NSF CAREER Award and a 2025 College of Arts and Science Research Award in Natural and Physical Sciences. Folk earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Akron and his PhD in evolution, ecology and organismal biology from The Ohio State University, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Florida. At Purdue, he plans to uncover the mechanisms that generate and maintain plant diversity across ecosystems through interdisciplinary approaches that combine field, greenhouse, laboratory and computational methods. Beyond academics, Folk enjoys music, especially the study of period performance practice, antique collecting, art and gardening.

Lindsay Miles has joined the Department of Entomology as a research assistant professor. She began college as an art major at Paradise Valley Community College, but a general biology course sparked her interest earning a bachelor’s degree in general biology from Arizona State University. As an undergraduate, she researched urban black widow spiders, which inspired her to pursue a PhD in molecular evolution and population genetics from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research career has included postdoctoral appointments at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Virginia Tech, where she studied the eco-evolutionary dynamics in milkweed-specialist insects and the evolution of urban pests, including bed bugs and cockroaches. Prior to joining Purdue, Miles taught biological concepts and applications in the Department of Environmental Science at Portland State University. Her current research focuses on how urbanization drives evolutionary change in invertebrates, using cities as living laboratories to understand adaptation in real-time. Outside her lab, Miles enjoys creative pursuits, such as arts and crafts, reading and tattoos, allowing her to explore a different side of herself from scientific work.

Deniz Ciftci, a new addition to the Department of Food Science, comes from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she taught courses in food chemistry, advanced food analysis and sustainable food transformation. Ciftci earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food engineering from Gaziantep University in Turkey, later completing a PhD in bioresource and food engineering from the University of Alberta and postdoctoral training at Nebraska. Ciftci’s career encompasses experience in the food industry; government-supportedinnovation programs; research focused on sustainable food processing and the value-added utilization of agricultural resources, food materials and biomass; and higher education in several countries. Her work explores the use of subcritical water as a green processing technology for biomass utilization, as well as ways to convert underutilized materials and agroindustrial byproducts into food ingredients, biomaterials and other useful products. At Purdue, Ciftci is excited to combine her teaching and research knowledge with real-world food challenges while collaborating with students, colleagues and industry partners to support innovation. Beyond academia, she enjoys spending time with family, exploring new places and experiencing different foods and cultures.

Ozan Ciftci, a renowned food engineering researcher and innovator, has joined the Department of Food Science. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as a PhD in food engineering from Gaziantep University, followed by postdoctoral research in chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Lethbridge and in bioresource and food engineering at the University of Alberta in Canada. Before joining Purdue, he was the Kenneth E. Morrison Distinguished Professor of Food Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and interim director of UNL’s Industrial Agricultural Products Center. Ciftci’s current research spans sustainable and clean food processing, supercritical fluid technologies, integrated biorefining and waste upcycling, particle engineering for food functionality and human health, and next-generation food design, including 3D food printing. In his new role, Ciftci looks forward to building interdisciplinary collaborations and translating innovative food engineering research into solutions that benefit farmers, industry and consumers.