Much has changed for Emilia Rico since her time at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The most significant difference being her transformation from graduate student to owner and CEO of BCN Research Laboratories—one of the leading food mycology labs in the US.

Emilia attended UT Knoxville in 1979 when the Department of Food Science was called the Department of Food Technology and Science. This was also before the college bore the name Herbert College of Agriculture.

Her husband, Jose March-Leuba, was already a nuclear engineering student at UT Knoxville. After earning her degree in biological sciences in Spain, Emilia pursued a one-year specialization course in food science in Valencia, discovering her passion for the field. She said, “I was very glad to find out that UT Knoxville had a department in food technology and science, so I applied and got accepted.”

After earning her PhD in 1985, Emilia returned to Spain because her husband planned to work for the Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Madrid. Then, Oak Ridge National Lab offered him a better opportunity, which prompted their return to Knoxville in 1986. Because UT did not offer a postdoctoral program, Emilia worked for a small lab in Knoxville called S-W Laboratories. In 1988, she started her own testing laboratory, BCN Research Laboratories. “It cost me $25 to get a business license and I have never worked for anybody else,” said Emilia.

Emilia started small by testing for Listeria monocytogenes. In 1990, she worked on projects for Quaker Oats at their Newport facility in Tennessee, which produced Gatorade. She continued working with other Gatorade facilities in the country among several other companies like dairies, meat packing plants, tortilla manufacturers, pet foods, sweetener manufacturers, and so much more. Today, BCN Labs remains a leader in food mycology.

Emilia compared starting her own company to “having a kid.” She further explained, “You have to nurture it until it develops into an entity of its own. It is a great experience, but requires patience and a lot of nurturing.” In her eyes, most startups begin with three to five years of solid effort. Under her leadership, BCN Labs has thrived for thirty-seven years.

When asked what made her want to start BCN Labs, Emilia said she always had an interest in food mycology, or “mold spoilage of foods and beverages.” She truly fell in love with the subject after discovering the book, Fungi and Food Spoilage, by John Pitt and Ailsa Hocking. In 2000, John Pitt actually contacted Emilia by email and invited her to his workshop on the identification of the genus Penicillium in New Orleans. While there, she took two of his workshops and officially met him in person. Pitt became her mentor and introduced her to the International Commission on Food Mycology in 2003. They stayed friends and continued to collaborate together until his death in 2022.

Established in 1990, the commission is a COMCOF (Commissions, Committees and Federations) of the International Union of Microbiological Societies, comprising twenty members from around the world. At the 2003 meeting in Denmark, Emilia met Rob Samson of the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, who became her second mentor and very good friend.

She said, “The ICFM opened a lot of new opportunities for me. We organize conferences and outreach programs such as the ones in Indonesia. Most of my professional life has been dedicated to the promotion of food mycology, which has been my passion from the beginning.”

UT’s Department of Food Science played a key role in Emilia’s success through its course offerings in food microbiology, food chemistry, analytical chemistry, food fermentations, food flavors, food enzymes, and more. She expressed that her education prepared her to be a consultant that could handle problems with various food and beverage products.

Emilia recalled several professors who made a significant impact on her. She said that without the guidance of her major professor, Mike Davidson, she would not be where she is today. She named Ann Draughon, whose passion for microbiology and mycology made her realize they were her passion too. Emilia also mentioned Curtis Melton and Sharon Melton “for being such great individuals and professors.”

While many factors like strong leadership and work ethic lead to a successful company, Emilia’s advice to current students is simple: “Follow your passion.” Passion has certainly taken her far.