Kids don't often say they want to be a researcher when they grow up, but they might if they could taste-test what makes good ice cream.

Graduate students working in a small lab at New Mexico State University are studying how to improve the frozen dairy treat.

Sergio Martinez-Monteagudo, assistant professor of food science and technology, leads the food science dairy lab housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Martinez-Monteagudo said the lab partnered with Iowa's Blue Bunny company to explore formulations to prevent ice cream from melting too quickly by modifying the product's proteins.

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"It has all the properties ice cream has. It does melt but when it melts, it takes just longer," Martinez-Monteagudo explained.

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the average American consumes about 4 gallons of ice cream annually. Sunday, July 19, is National Ice Cream Day, first established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan. Be on the lookout for special discounts or freebies at your local ice cream shop.

Currently, the lab is working with 12 companies to reduce waste from ice cream production and address how its quality is affected by storing at slightly higher freezer temperatures. Martinez-Monteagudo's lab recently sent batches of ice cream to an event showcasing creativity and agricultural innovation at 21 different public and land-grant universities.

As you might guess, taste-testing is a joy and hazard of the research, and flavor matters.

"One time in my class we did a tequila ice cream and it was awful. It was really bad. But we did one with mango and it was good. We did one with dark chocolate and cherries. That one was good too," Martinez-Monteagudo recounted.

Whatever the flavor, you might say ice cream never goes out of style, evidenced by the still popular phrase, "I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream." The lyrics are part of a novelty song first published in 1927.