Members

Past Program Members

Post-docs and Visiting Scientists

Dr. Jorge Maicelo

Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru

Dr. Carlos Gomez

Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru

Dr. Eduardo Fuentes Navarro

Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru.

Dr. Hector Vasquez

Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza, Chachapoyas, Amazonas, Peru.

Dr. Juan J. Romero

Juan worked characterizing the microbiome of silage using next generation sequencing techniques.  After joining us for almost 2 years, he accepted a faculty position in Animal Nutrition at University of Maine in 2016.

Dr. Heba Salama

Heba joined us for a 6-month research mission in 2016 at NCSU. During her stay she worked on nutritive value analysis of by-products from sweet potatoe and grape pomace as feed for livestock and ensiling characteristics. After her time at NCSU she returned to University of Alexandria, Egypt where she is a faculty member.

Dr. Eduardo Alava

As a faculty member of Escuela Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador, Eduardo joined us for a one-week training on utilization of near-infrared spectroscopy devices for determination of plan-tissue chemistry.

Alumni

Stephanie Sosinski, Graduate Student (MS) and Research Technician

Stephanie is originally from Roanoke, VA. She received her B.S. in Sustainable Agriculture in 2009 from the University of Maine, Orono.  She has worked for UMaine Cooperative Extension and on various farms in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and North Carolina.  She joined the Forage program in July of 2016 as the Research Technician and concomitantly worked towards her MS degree.  Stephanie is currently a Program Manager for the Horticulture Extension Program at University of New Hampshire.

Dante Pizarro, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Originally from Peru, Dante joined us as a short-term graduate scholar as part of the Silvopastures Peru project. Dante has a BS and DVM degrees from Universidad Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru and a MS in Animal Science from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru. Dante is currently pursuing his PhD at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Raul Rivera, Graduate Student (MS)

Originally from Tacna, Peru, South America. He received his B.S. in Animal Science from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru. His MS research project at focused on persistence and productivity of switchgrass for livestock and and bioenergy purposes. Raul graduated on Spring 2018.

Marcelo Gutierrez, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Originally from Cochabamba, Bolivia. His undergraduate degree (B.S.) is in Plant and Animal Sciences from Zamorano University (Honduras, C.A.). He joined us in April 2018 for a 7-month research scholarship program.

Perejitei Bekewe,  Graduate Student (M.S.)

Originally from Arogbo, Ondo State, Nigeria. He received a B.S. degree in Agricultural Sci. from Earth University in Costa Rica, Central America. Perejitei’s research project evaluated productivity, persistence, and nutritive value of switchgrass as a function of defoliation frequency and intensity. 

Izamar Gonzales, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Izamar joined us as a research scholar for Summer and Fall of 2017. She was born in Honduras. Her undergraduate degree is in clinical microbiology from Universidad Autonoma of Honduras. She participated in field and laboratory activities collecting and analyzing samples from the silvopasture project and from the alfalfa-grass mixture forage project.

Tommaso Gaifami, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Originally from Italy. Tommaso’s research focused on frost-seeding legumes into existing perennial grasslands and its effect on productivity and N cycling.  After completing his internship at NCSU, Tommaso received his M.S. diploma in Organic Agriculture from Wageningen University in Netherlands and accepted a position as research assistance in Florence, Italy.

Ruby Vega Ravello, Research Scholar

She was born in Trujillo, Peru. Ruby joined us as research scholar during Spring 2017.  She has degrees in Agronomy (B.S.) and Soil Science (M.S.) from Universidad Agraria La Molina, Peru. She is member of the Soil Science faculty at La Molina. After completing his program at NCSU, Ruby returned to work as faculty at Universidad Agraria La Molina in Peru.

Adam Heitman,  Graduate Student (M.S.)

Adam’s research project evaluated the effect of N fertilization on plant responses of two sorghum cultivars (sweet sorghum and high biomass sorghum) as dedicated bioenergy crops in eastern North Carolina. Experiments were conducted at a research stations as well as on-farm. Adam graduated in Spring 2016 and accepted a position in private industry.

Diego J. Contreras, Short-term Undergraduate Scholar

Originally from Honduras, Central America. Diego joined us during Spring 2016 as a short-term undergraduate scholar. Diego received a BS degree  in Plant and Animal Sciences from Zamorano University. After completing his BS, Diego returned to NCSU for his MS and Ph.D. at the Crop and Soil Sciences.

Mari Dalman, Short-term Undergraduate Scholar

Mari Dalman is a senior student in the Department of Animal Science at NC State who joined the program as an undergraduate intern for Fall 2015. During the internship she helped on many projects that include soil sampling and analysis from soils at the agroforestry project at CEFS, and bermudagrass and corn silage analysis.

Marco Balseca, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Marco is a graduate from Zamorano University in Honduras. Originally from Ecuador, Marco joined the program as a short-term scholar during Spring 2015. He worked on several projects including establishment of native warm-season grasses, silage production, and extraction of microbial DNA from ensiled forages.

Jinwoo Park, Short-term Undergraduate Scholar

Jinwoo park joined the Forage Program as a one-semester undergraduate intern for Fall 2014. He is from Ulsan, Republic of Korea. After finishing his internship at NCSU, Jinwoo returned to Korea to finish his undergraduate degree in the department of Animal Sciences in Gyeongsang National University, Jinju.

Yuchen Zhao, Short-term Graduate Student  Scholar

Yuchen joined the group as a graduate research intern for Fall 2014. He is native from China. Yuchen received an undergraduate degree in 2013 in Animal Science and after finishing his internship at NCSU, he returned to China to finish his  M.S. degree in Animal Science in China Agriculture University, Beijing, China.

Young ho, Joo, Short-term Graduate Student Intern

Young ho joined the Forage Program in Fall 2014. He is a native from the Republic of Korea and received his B.S. in Animal Science in 2013 from Gyeongsang National University. After finishing his internship Young ho returned to Korea to finish his M.S. degree in Animal Science.

Axel Gonzáles Murillo, Short-term Graduate Scholar

Axel joined the group as a research intern in Spring 2014. He is native from Honduras, and graduated in 2011 with a B.S. degree in Agriculture from Universidad Nacional de Agricultura, Honduras.