Dr. Evelyn Watts
Assistant Professor
201C Animal and Food Sciences Laboratories
phone: 225-578-6304
email: egwatts@agcenter.lsu.edu
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EDUCATION
- Doctorate 2011-2016 Food Science, Louisiana State University
- Master’s 2009-2011 Food Safety, University of San Carlos in Guatemala
- Veterinary Medicine 1995-2001 University of San Carlos in Guatemala
Evelyn Watts, Assistant Professor/Seafood Extension Specialist for Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and Louisiana Sea Grant, works with seafood processors assisting in regulatory compliance, as well as providing guidance on handling, processing, packaging, and storage technologies. Through her research and outreach work, she collaborates with federal, state and local agencies and has developed public/private partnerships.
Active member of the Guatemalan Veterinary Medicine Professional Society, LSU Food Science Club, IAFP, IFT, Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society, Louisiana Marine Extension Project, Phi Tau Sigma Honor Society, AFDO, AFDOSS, and Epsilon Sigma Phi. Member of the Chain of Custody Technical Advisory Committee for the Audubon Gulf United for Lasting Fisheries (GULF) Responsible Fisheries Management Certification program, vise-chair of Gamma Sigma Delta LSU AgCenter Chapter, chair of Phi Tau Sigma LSU Chapter, board member of the Atlantic and Gulf Seafood Technology Conference, and member of the Seafood HACCP Alliance steering committee.
Evelyn has over a decade of experience working with the food industry and academia, where most of her work has been in the areas of regulatory compliance and food safety. Evelyn has extensive experience teaching Sanitation control procedures of fish and fishery products, Basic seafood HACCP, IHA HACCP, Better Process Control School, and FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Foods courses. In addition to her experience, she has ten food safety certifications.
Recipient of LSU AgCenter 2017 Denver T. and Ferne Loupe Extension Team Award
In the News
LSU AgCenter, La. Sea Grant unveil first-of-its-kind Seafood Processing Lab on the Gulf Coast
[22 July 2022] JEANERETTE, La. — The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant showcased a new Seafood Processing Demonstration Laboratory at the AgCenter Iberia Research Station.
On July 19, the organizations hosted a ribbon cutting for the facility located at 603 LSU Bridge Road in Jeanerette, Louisiana. The facility will offer seafood processors hands-on training with equipment that can be used to create value-added seafood products and add marketability to what is being caught in Louisiana’s coastal and inland waters.
The facility is the first of its kind in the nation, according to Evelyn Watts, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant seafood extension specialist. She and Thomas Hymel, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant marine agent, had the idea for the facility two and half years ago and were instrumental in bringing it to fruition.
“We are an example for Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and the rest of the country,” Watts said. “The idea of the facility is that we can use it as a demonstration lab for people who want to start a seafood processing business. We can show them what type of equipment, with what layout, how to pack and how to freeze. We can also do this for existing facilities that need training for their employees or their managers on how to do things. We are looking to work with seafood technology and also with seafood safety.”
Hymel serves as director of Louisiana Fisheries Forward, a voluntary educational program for commercial fishermen with the goal of improving the economic success of Louisiana’s commercial fishing industry. During his 37 years in his position, he has helped the Louisiana Gulf Coast’s commercial fishing industry tread water amid natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a billion-dollar industry,” Hymel said. “There’s so much demand for the product that we have. Now, there are new ways to package it, freeze it and market it that we haven’t done much of in the past. There are new opportunities now that we never had before in seafood, so this facility gives us an opportunity to capture some of that and help move the state forward.”
Hymel said plans are to start demonstrating simple projects that can be incorporated into a small fisherman’s repertoire to create value-added products.
“There’s a lot of questions about smoked fish — smoked catfish and garfish,” Hymel said. “That’s trending right now.”
“We had this equipment, but we could only take it on the road so many places,” said Julie Anderson Lively, executive director of the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program at LSU. “It’s amazing that this facility can now serve more with the equipment always available and ready.”
The lab is stocked with ready-to-use seafood processing equipment including stainless steel kitchen-grade appliances like a meat grinder, bandsaw, processing tables and sinks, ice makers and industry-specific items like a shrimp splitter, a fish scaler and modified atmosphere packaging machines.
Numerous refrigerators and freezers will be used to store the value-added seafood products that are derived from the fresh daily catches. Watts said while some of the equipment in the lab was from prior purchases, the remainder of the equipment was obtained through donations and grant-funded acquisitions.
LSU Interim Vice President of Agriculture and Dean of the College of Agriculture Luke Laborde was on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony. He said the lab adds to the rich history of research and extension work conducted at the Iberia Research Station, but the real value of the facility will go far beyond the Louisiana seafood industry.
“This is going to bring new people, new clients into the industry, but more importantly, it’s going to bring new economic development to south Louisiana and the Acadiana area,” Laborde said.
The laboratory will add seafood to the list of research and extension offerings at the station. The facility is currently home to research plots of sugarcane, soybeans and forage grasses. Research into beef cattle breeding, feeding and grazing remains a substantial part of the work done there. The building that now houses the seafood lab was once a beef cattle grow-out barn — but the renovated, pristine facility shows no evidence of its prior purpose.
“The seafood industry is a significant contributor to our economy,” said Kurt Guidry, AgCenter Southwest Region director and agricultural economist. “We at the AgCenter and Sea Grant need to service that industry. This is going to give them the ability to do what they have already been doing and taking it to the next level with value-added products.”
Among those attending the ribbon-cutting event were LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant administrators, private fishermen and local dignitaries, including Iberia Parish President Larry Richard, who said the new facility will bring great opportunities to Iberia Parish.
“This is a big deal for us,” Richard said. “When you’re talking about the small businesses coming in and learning how to package seafood, and things of that nature, you’re bringing more opportunities, more business to the parish, which means bringing in more tax dollars.”
Evelyn Watts: Keeping Louisiana's seafood safe
(3/26/2021) Evelyn Watts gets to combine three of her favorite things in her job: people, seafood and traveling.
As a seafood extension specialist with the LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant, Watts spends a lot of time meeting people who work in the industry and teaching them the best ways to process safe, high-quality seafood products.
“I help the industry understand regulations so they know how that applies to their facilities and to their processes,” she said.
She also conducts research on seafood topics. One project has involved studying how different methods of processing crawfish affect the amount of fat in tail meat. Processing has evolved significantly in the past 30 years, she said.
It once was common for crawfish to be boiled, peeled while still hot and then sold fresh in grocery stores. Now, it’s typical for crawfish to be steamed, chilled, peeled, packaged and frozen before it’s shipped to stores. Watts’ studies have found that the modern method helps preserve more fat — and flavor.
Watts said she has enjoyed developing relationships with regulatory agencies, university colleagues and those who work in the seafood industry. Many crawfish peelers and crab pickers in Louisiana speak Spanish, which is Watts’ native language.
“Whenever I walk in a processing floor, it is really nice the way that I can actually interact directly with them,” she said. “I talk with them. They are willing to help and listen to things I have to say.”
Watts never thought she would have a career in food science and food safety. She grew up wanting to have her own pet clinic and studied veterinary medicine at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. She was required to take microbiology and food safety classes — and she ended up falling in love with that subject area.
She went on to earn a master’s degree in food safety from the University of San Carlos followed by a doctorate from LSU in food science.
She enjoys putting her skills to use while getting to explore Louisiana.
“I’m not native to Louisiana, but Louisiana is my home, and through my work, I get to enjoy the best of Louisiana — that is their people and their food,” she said.
