{{short description|American Benedictine nun, scientist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Mother Noella Marcellino | image = <!--(filename only)--> | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Martha A. Marcellino | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|06|30}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = American | fields = Microbiology<br/>Molecular biology<br/>Cellular biology | workplaces = Abbey of Regina Laudis | alma_mater = University of Connecticut | known_for = Microbiology | awards = Fulbright Scholarship<br/> French Fellowship<br/>French Food Spirit Award }}
Mother '''Noella Marcellino, O.S.B.''', (born '''Martha A. Marcellino'''; June 30, 1951)<ref>''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.</ref> is an American Benedictine nun who has earned a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Connecticut. Studying fungi in France on a Fulbright Scholarship,<ref name=ST1>{{cite web|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2003708130_cheesenun16.html|title=The mother of cheesemaking has art down to a science|accessdate=2009-01-18|author=Karen Gaudette|date=May 16, 2007|publisher=The Seattle Times}}</ref> she concentrated on the positive effects of decay and putrefaction as well as the odors and flavors of cheese.<ref name=HA>{{cite book|title=Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-being|last=Weil|first=Andrew|year=2005|publisher=Fitness In No Time|isbn= 978-0-375-40755-0|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DF9jM1gt2bQC&q=Noella+Marcellino}}</ref>
==Biography== Marcellino dropped out of Sarah Lawrence College.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20130227/NEWS/302279975 | title='Cheese Nun' leads abbey in production of the traditional, gourmet food| date=2013-02-27}}</ref> The Archbishop of Hartford, John Whealon, gave permission for members of the cloistered community of Benedictine nuns of Abbey of Regina Laudis to embark on a pilgrimage for higher education.<ref name="uconn">[http://uconnmagazine.uconn.edu/smmr2005/smmr05f3.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120213337/http://uconnmagazine.uconn.edu/smmr2005/smmr05f3.html |date=2016-11-20 }} University of Connecticut Alumni Magazine, Volume 6, Number 2 - Summer 2005, by Karen A. Singer, "Pursuing a Higher Education", accessed 01018-2009</ref> In December 1986, Marcellino and three other nuns applied and were accepted into courses for Agricultural Science at the University of Connecticut.<ref name=uconn/>
In 1987 the group began a program in scholarship that resulted in all receiving doctoral degrees; Marcellino's was in molecular and cell biology/microbiology.<ref name=uconn/> She began with introductory sciences courses at The University of Connecticut's campus in Waterbury, but it was during a visit by UCONN organic chemistry professor Nina Stein to the abbey's cheese cellar, that the professor suggested that she focus her research on the microbiology of cheese ripening.<ref name=uconn/>
She won a Fulbright scholarship<ref>[http://us.fulbrightonline.org/program_student_us.html?id=6009 fulbrightonline.com], SISTER NOELLA MARCELLINO - Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow 1994-1995, accessed 01-18-2009</ref> to France to collect and examine native strains of fungi, with an emphasis on ''Geotrichum candidum'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://web.uconn.edu/mcbstaff/benson/BensonHome/AEM01Marcellino.pdf |title=N. Marcellino et al. (Oct. 2001) "Diversity of ''Geotrichum candidum'' Strains Isolated from Traditional Cheesemaking Fabrications in France", ''Applied and Environmental Microbiology'', volume 67, #10, pp. 4752–59 |access-date=2012-01-02 |archive-date=2012-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505205144/http://web.uconn.edu/mcbstaff/benson/BensonHome/AEM01Marcellino.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> from traditional cheese caves and stayed an additional three years, analyzing the samples on a grant from the French government.<ref name=uconn/>
Mother Noella used to not be able to eat cheese, except for the occasional chunk of smoked cheddar and had been making cheese in a wooden whiskey barrel since 1977.<ref name=AP1>{{cite web|url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/33736/nun_serves_as_frances_cheese_ambassador_in_us/index.html|title=Nun Serves As France's Cheese Ambassador in U.S.|accessdate=2009-01-18|author=Angela Doland|date=December 16, 2003|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Red Orbit website}}</ref>
She is a member of the Abbey of Regina Laudis.<ref name=NY1>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25840847_ITM|title=RAW FAITH|accessdate=2009-01-18|author= Burkhard Bilger|date=August 19, 2002|publisher=The New Yorker}}</ref> She now frequently advises the United States cheese industry and she is a speaker and judge at competitions.
Her brother is John "Jocko" Marcellino, founding member and drummer with Sha Na Na.
==Praise== She was praised by Rémy Grappin, the late Director of Research at France's National Institute of Agricultural Research, who said that she had studied the biodiversity of raw-milk cheese fungi and no one else was fighting harder to preserve it in a world of standardization and pasteurization. She was named the official cheese maker of Abbey of Regina Laudis and she is part of an ancient order of cheese makers.<ref name=NYT1>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/289928/The-Cheese-Nun-Sister-Noella-s-Voyage-of-Discovery/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906124923/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/289928/The-Cheese-Nun-Sister-Noella-s-Voyage-of-Discovery/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-09-06|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Jason Buchanan|date=2008|title=''The Cheese Nun: Sister Noella's Voyage of Discovery''|accessdate=2009-01-18}}</ref> She won a French Food Spirit Award and the organizers for the award said that she was an international expert of cheese.<ref name=AP1/>
==Documentary== Marcellino was the subject of a PBS documentary called ''The Cheese Nun'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=406568|title=Sister Noella Marcellino 'Takes Five'|accessdate=2009-01-18|date=March 7, 2006|work=JS Online website|publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|archive-date=2016-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310194036/http://www3.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=406568|url-status=dead}}</ref> but she said that she does not like being called a cheese nun. She was filmed while she traveled though the French countryside collecting information from cheese-making experts.<ref name=NYT1/> Mother Dolores Hart advised her to go with "''The Cheese Nun''", because cheese is more appealing than fungi. She was also featured in the Netflix limited Series "Cooked". She appeared on the episode "Earth".
==See also== {{portal|Biography}} * List of cheesemakers
==Additional sources== *''Microbe'', "Microbiological Research Adds a Scientific Element to Cheesemaking"<ref>[http://forms.asm.org/microbe/index.asp?bid=25286 asm.org] ''Microbe'', March 2004, "In the world of fine cheesemaking, Mother Noella stands alone.", accessed 01-18-2009</ref> *''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', "Cheese fest is habit-forming"<ref>[http://www.seattlepi.com/food/315783_cheesenun16.html seattlepi.nwsource.com] by HSIAO-CHING CHOU (May 15, 2007), "Cheese fest is habit-forming", accessed 01-18-2009</ref> *Holy Trinity Apostolate, "Lenten Symposium 2009"<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110712214218/http://www.holytrinityapostolate.com/events/2009lentensymposium/mothermarcellino.html holytrinityapostolate.com]}}, 2009 events, accessed 01-18-2009</ref> *''New Worlder'', "Mother Noella & The Ecosystems of Cheese"<ref>[https://www.newworlder.com/article/18063/sister-noella-the-ecosystems-of-cheese] "Mother Noella & The Ecosystems of Cheese" by Nicholas Gill</ref>
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcellino, Noella}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:People from Bethlehem, Connecticut Category:Benedictine nuns Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Category:University of Connecticut alumni Category:Cheesemakers Category:American food scientists Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic nuns Category:20th-century American scientists Category:21st-century American scientists Category:20th-century American women scientists Category:21st-century American women scientists Category:Scientists from Connecticut Category:Catholics from Connecticut Category:Women food scientists