Presented as part of the American Cheese Society’s annual conference, when Research Meets Rind bridges the gap between academic research and hands-on cheesemaking. In the first section, Dr. Benjamin Wolfe will walk through a peer-reviewed paper on cheese microbiology, explaining the structure of a scientific article, the purpose of each section, and how to critically interpret the data and conclusions. He will also discuss why peer review matters and how scientific papers function within the broader research community. Following up on Dr. Wolfe’s presentation, Josh Windsor of Murray’s Cheese will translate the paper’s findings into practical application in the aging room. This portion will focus on using published research to formulate hypotheses, design controlled experiments, and apply experimental thinking to improve rind quality. Together, the two sections offer attendees a framework for using scientific literature as a practical tool for quality improvement in cheesemaking.