Outreach:
Food safety; food preservation. Dr. Harrison has been named a Walter B. Hill Distinguished Fellow in Public Service and Outreach.

Interests:
Dr. Harrison supports the outreach mission of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences in the areas of food safety and food preservation. She not only trains and supports County Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Agents, but also develops, implements and evaluates educational programs and materials for a variety of audiences. With grant funding, she has developed an award winning curriculum that includes an animated video, workbooks, teaching guides, a story book and computer games for teaching children how to keep food safe. She has also developed materials and videos for training food handlers in child and elder care environments. Dr. Harrison's applied research has included examining the efficacy of various home food preservation methods in eliminating the risk of foodborne illness from E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria and translating the findings into usable recommendations for consumers. She is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, the International Association for Food Protection and the Georgia Association for Food Protection.

Education:

Selected Publications/Presentations:

Simmons, K., Harrison, M., Hurst, W., Harrison, J., Brecht, J., Schneider, K., et al. (2007). Survey of Food Defense Practices in Produce Operations in the Southeast. Food Protection Trends 27(3), 174-184.

Kim, J. K., D'Sa, E. M., Harrison, M. A., Harrison, J. A., & Andress, E. L. (2005). Listeria monocytogenes Survival in Refrigerator Dill Pickles. J. Food Prot. 68 (12).

Nummer, B. A., Harrison, J. A., Harrison, M. A., Kendall, P., Sofos, J. N., & Andress, E. L. (2004).  Review of current research for home drying meat jerky. J. Food Prot. 67 (10): 2337-2341.

Harrison, J. A., & Harrison, M. A. (2003). Preparing Safer Jerky. Pub. No. FDNS-E 89. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

Harrison, J. A., Harrison, M. A., Rose, R. A. & Shewfelt, R. L. (2001). Home style beef jerky: effect of four preparation methods on consumer acceptability and pathogen inactivation. J. Food Prot. 64 (8): 1194-1198.