RAUL E. JARAMILLO JOINS STAFF OF IPNI AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NORTHERN LATIN AMERICA

RAUL E. JARAMILLO JOINS STAFF OF IPNI AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NORTHERN LATIN AMERICA

September 1, 2008 – Norcross, Georgia, USA – Raúl E. Jaramillo joined the staff of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) as Deputy Director, Northern Latin America, effective June 1, 2008. He will be based in the Quito, Ecuador, office of the Institute and working in coordination with Dr. José Espinosa, Director of the IPNI Northern Latin America Program. That region now includes Mexico and the Central American and Caribbean countries, as well as Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

“We are very glad to have Raúl Jaramillo joining in the important work of IPNI. While he is just completing his Ph.D. degree, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience in international settings that will serve well in this new role,” stated IPNI President Dr. Terry Roberts. “His background in both soil science and plant nutrition will be a valuable asset.” Mr. Jaramillo will complete his Ph.D. program and receive his degree at The Pennsylvania State University in September 2008.

A native of Quito, Ecuador, he completed undergraduate studies in Agronomy at the Central University in Quito in 1994. He then worked with the International Potato Center (CIP) in Quito as a research assistant in the breeding program for Late Blight resistance. In addition to plant selection, he took part in projects dealing with participatory research and integrated management of plant diseases.

In 1998, Mr. Jaramillo joined the Soil Sciences program at the Wageningen Agricultural University in Holland and received his M.Sc. degree with specialization in Land Use Evaluation in 2000. His thesis on the impact of insecticides was used as input information by the “Tradeoffs” projects, a joint venture of CIP, Wageningen University, and Montana State University, focused on the evaluation of economic tradeoffs between agriculture and the environment. After graduation, he worked for 2 more years with Tradeoffs and related projects in Ecuador on the study of land use effects on agricultural sustainability.

Mr. Jaramillo began his Ph.D. program in the Laboratory of Plant Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in 2002, under the supervision of Dr. Jonathan Lynch. He contributed in the analysis of plant and root traits involved in the acquisition of nutrients and water. He also investigated the distribution of phosphorus-deficient soils around the world and the interaction between increased carbon dioxide and soil type (soil fertility) in plant growth.
For further information, please contact Dr. Terry L. Roberts at IPNI: tel. 1.770.447.0335; e-mail: troberts@ipni.net.

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