{"id":69115,"date":"2023-04-25T10:22:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T17:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=69115"},"modified":"2023-04-25T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T17:22:07","slug":"humans-of-flagstaff-devon-randall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/humans-of-flagstaff-devon-randall\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans of Flagstaff: Devon Randall"},"content":{"rendered":"

New-to-NAU <\/span>Devon Randall<\/span><\/b> is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She oversees a Brewing Science Certificate and is an adjunct professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. She also is a professional beer taster with goals of judging the World Beer Cup. <\/span>The NAU Review<\/span><\/i> spoke with Randall about her plans at NAU and the question we\u2019re all dying to know\u2014what is a beer connoisseur\u2019s favorite beer?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What brought you to NAU?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new Brewing Science Certificate program brought me to NAU. We previously lived in Los Angeles, with dreams of moving to Flagstaff. Once I saw the job posting for this position, I thought to myself \u201cOh, that\u2019s me!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a new resident, what is your favorite thing about Flagstaff so far?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We currently live in Williams, so I\u2019m looking forward to moving to Flagstaff very soon. The brewing scene in town is amazingly rich and versatile for the size of the community. I love visiting Mother Road Brewing\u2019s tap room to relax.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell me about your past life. What led to you becoming an award-winning professional beer taster?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What got me really interested in beer at first was the stories surrounding each beer, whether it\u2019s how they are made or where they are from. I was working as a server in college, and I just adored the opportunity to talk beer with customers. This led to homebrewing, then becoming a certified beer judge and then to brewing professionally.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Devon<\/a>
Randall enjoys one of many sunsets aboard the catamaran yacht in the open waters of the South Atlantic Ocean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tell me about a significant childhood memory and how it has impacted your life today.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have two. I lost my older sister, Allison, when I was 20 years old. We were close, and I miss her every day. This taught me that even on a very bad day, I would much rather be here than not. Soon after that, I went sailing on catamaran yacht from South Africa to the Caribbean with a crew of only four. That taught me what it\u2019s like to be very, very alone. My watch was from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. It was amazing looking out over the Atlantic Ocean knowing there was no one even remotely nearby.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a young child, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Going to UC Berkeley as an undergraduate, I intended to be an environmental sciences major. Although my career took me in many different directions as a brewer, I\u2019m happy to have made my way back to science. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What have you been most proud of recently?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am so proud of my CHM312-Sensory & Quality Aspects of Beer and HA372-Beer Basics students. Watching them learn about brewing and now start to craft their in-class presentations has been very rewarding. I\u2019ve been astounded by their insightfulness and creativity.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is your favorite way to spend a day off?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doing new and exciting things in and around Flagstaff with my fianc\u00e9, Drew Carricato, and my 2.5-year-old daughter, Genevieve. We moved here for the community and the gorgeous outdoors.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Randall<\/a>
Randall (right) sits on a panel of judges for the Great American Beer Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are three things on your bucket list?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Judge the World Beer Cup. I have judged for The Great American Beer Festival twice, and I hope to be experienced enough for WBC in the future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Lead a trip in conjunction with NAU\/Study Abroad to Germany. I would love to learn more about German beer culture and visit the famous brewing region of Bavaria.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Summit Humphrey\u2019s Peak. While the 12,633-foot elevation sounds daunting, it\u2019s only 5,723 feet higher than Flagstaff. I can see it from my office window, and that mountain is calling me.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/span>What are you most looking forward to in your new role at NAU?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I am most looking forward to our first Brewing Science Certificate graduates! There are two paths: Quality Assurance and Hospitality\/Management. We are offering some of the required classes for the first time next semester (CHM310-Principles of Brewing Science and CHM311-Brewing Process Technology), and I\u2019m excited to meet the future generations of craft brewers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Last but not least and because we are all dying to know\u2014what is your favorite beer of all time? And your go-to easy drinking beer?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Favorite beer? Saison Dupont, hands down. It is my \u2018desert island\u2019 beer. The students in my classes will understand what that means!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Favorite go-to easy drinking beer? Currently, Tower Station IPA by Mother Road. I also enjoy a well-made pilsner.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    New-to-NAU Devon Randall is an assistant professor of practice in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. She oversees a Brewing Science Certificate and is an adjunct professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. She also is a professional beer taster with goals of judging the World Beer Cup. The NAU Review spoke with…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":69117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1817,1815],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humans-of-nau","category-lumberjack-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}