During my B.S. Agronomy course in Brazil, I had a special interest in plant production in protected environments, mainly for microclimate control inside greenhouses, having had an internship on this subject. The complex and beautiful interaction between the climate, weather and agriculture motivated me to enter a M.S. program in agro-meteorology, where my interests focused on the relation between weather conditions and plant disease occurrence, leading me to develop a thesis evaluating microclimates and ramulosis (pathogen: Colletotrichum gossypii var. cephalosporioides) occurrence in cotton crop under different plant population densities.
Currently, during my PhD program in agricultural meteorology at ESALQ (a branch campus of University of São Paulo in Piracicaba, Brazil), my main goal is to transform theoretical knowledge into applied knowledge, to be directly used in agricultural production. My PhD adviser at ESALQ is Dr. Paulo C. Sentelhas. My main research objective is to develop a disease-warning system for ramulosis of cotton, in order to improve the control of this economically important disease.
During my 6-month “sandwich” program at ISU, I am analyzing three years of controlled-environment and field data on ramulosis to refine warning-system algorithms. I am also consulting on various weather-related projects in the Gleason lab. Education
PhD., Agrometeorology, University of São Paulo, Brazil. December, 2006. Thesis: “Development of a disease warning system applied to ramulosis of cotton”
M.S., Agrometeorology, University of São Paulo, Brazil. January, 2003. Thesis: “Microclimate and ramulosis occurrence in cotton under three plant population densities”
B.S., Agronomy Engineer, University of São Paulo, Brazil. December, 2000. Emphasis in Plant Production
Awards
Graduate-Level Staff (CAPES) Sandwich Scholarship at Iowa State University: March-August 2006.
São Paulo Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) PhD Scholarship: 2003-2006
Graduate-Level Staff (CAPES) M.S. Scholarship: 2001-2002
São Paulo Research Support Foundation (FAPESP) undergrad Scholarship: 1999 and 2000