About the Author
Emily Buehler lives and works in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She came to the area in 1996 to attend graduate school in chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied reactions of hydrogen on silicon surfaces using a scanning tunneling microscope. In 2001 Emily was a fellow with the Office On Public Understanding of Science through the National Academies' Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program in Washington D.C. This experience heightened her awareness of the schism between scientists and the public and the need to present science in more understandable formats. One obvious method would be to write about science in non-technical, understandable language, without "dumbing down" the information.
Upon receiving her PhD in 2001, Emily began baking bread at Weaver Street Market, a cooperative natural foods store then located in Carrboro, NC. The co-op's medium-sized bakery was known in the area for its top-quality breads. The bakers used preferments for deeper flavor, allowed for long rising times, and shaped each loaf by hand.
In 2002, at the request of community members, Emily and a fellow baker began teaching Beginning Artisan Bread-Making classes through Weaver Street Market and the Carrboro Artscenter. Emily also began hosting a monthly Community Oven Night, when the bakery's oven was available for use by the public. These experiences gave Emily insight into the perspective of home bakers and the unique problems they face.
Emily's search for the details of bread-making science began when she wrote the manual for her class. Unable to find a good source, she pulled bits and pieces together from various places--biology textbooks, notes in recipe books, high-tech books on commercial baking, newsletters of the Bread Baker's Guild of America, and a few scientific journal articles. A more thorough search confirmed her belief that a comprehensive, understandable bread science book was needed.
Emily no longer bakes professionally, but continues to teach bread-making classes. She's working on her second book, a memoir of a cross-country bicycle trip she did with a friend in the summer of 2003, as well as other writing projects. She also works part-time in the co-op's Marketing Office as the Website and Social Media Coordinator.