|
When toxicologists convene, group sing-alongs aren't typically the order of the day. But when one of those toxicologists is Carl Winter, the day isn't complete without one.
And it doesn't end there. Winter, 45, an expert in food toxicology who writes and performs songs on food safety, often gets audience members to come on stage and spell out the letters U-S-D-A with their limbs when he plays his spoof on the Village People's YMCA. Also in his repertoire are interpretations of classics such as I Heard It Through the Grapevine (I Sprayed It On the Grapevine), Surfin' USA (Clonin' DNA) and We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions (They Might Kill You/We Are the Microbes).
He even has a 17-song CD, which is available through his Web site, http://foodsafe.ucdavis.edu/music.html. It has been distributed worldwide to the tune of more than 13,000 copies.
Make no mistake: Winter is serious as salmonella poisoning when it comes to his day job. A faculty member of the University of California-Davis' Food Science and Technology department, he has testified numerous times before Congress on food safety. He is director of the school's FoodSafe program, an industry information clearinghouse.
"Food safety is obviously a very serious topic," he says, noting that there are 76 million cases of food-borne illness every year in the USA and 5,000 deaths. "But one of the best ways to prevent this type of thing is to reach out with whatever educational tools we have available. Music is one of many components we can use."
He concedes there are times it seems as if his musical escapades overshadow his professional accomplishments, but you won't find him complaining about it.
"One has to sleep in the bed they make," he says. "It's been a wonderful sidebar for my life."
After finishing college, Winter left his garage-band days behind to pursue his professional career in earnest and start a family. But after 15 years away from music, Winter says, he got that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach.
His expertise assured him it wasn't something from the buffet table.
Drawing upon his life in academia and the food-safety questions of the day, Winter set about writing songs in his small studio/spare bedroom. His new state-of-the-art synthesizer, capable of virtually replacing a flesh-and-blood backup band, lets him take his one-man show on the road in a pinch.
Winter, who plays about 25 shows a year to crowds ranging from public health professionals and academics to schoolchildren, is a firm believer in the universal appeal of music and its power to break down people's resistance to learning.
He calls it "stealth learning."
"Think about the power of advertising jingles, how they work their way into our consciousness," he says. "It's a testament to the power of music as an educational tool."
Music has always been a part of the piano-trained professor's life, and his onstage persona is a natural progression from his time as a university lecturer, he says.
Winter's singing voice, however, is a work in progress, the result of years as a keyboardist who had little use for lyrics, let alone singing. His first show was, in his own words, "probably an unmitigated disaster," and he still gets the occasional wiseguy in the audience who can't help but make his opinion loud and clear.
Winter, who has been told he has "a voice for silent movies," takes such digs with good humor, something he says is much needed in what is an often grave profession.
"For a lot of these very serious types of professionals, it's a wonderful change of pace that allows them to really let their hair down."
|
