Interviews From Our Community

Rachel Herz, PhD is a neuroscientist and world leading expert on the psychological science of smell. She has been actively conducting research on the senses, emotion, perception, motivated behavior and cognition since 1990.  Dr. Herz is a TED speaker, has published 100 original research articles to date, and has received numerous awards and grants. She is on the faculty at Brown University, a professional consultant to various aromachemical industries, and is frequently called upon as an expert witness in legal cases involving the sense of smell.  Dr. Herz is also actively involved in outreach, advocacy, and education on the senses of smell and flavor, and is a founding advisory board member of Fifth Sense, and Smell and Taste Association of North America, Innovation Advisor to The World Taste and Smell Association, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for AChemS, and the Chief Scientific Advisor for OVR Technology.  Additionally, Dr Herz is the author of a number of academic and popular science books including: the leading college textbook on Sensation & Perception; The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell (2007; Harper Collins), which was selected as a finalist for the “2009 AAAS Prize for Excellence in Science Books”; That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion (2012; W.W. Norton & Co), a New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice”; and Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food (2018; W.W. Norton & Co), which was a finalist for the “2018 Readable Feast Awards” and ranked among the “Best Food Books of 2018” by The Smithsonian and The New Yorker.