4:06 p.m., Dec. 21, 2010----The University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA) in Brazil are working to organize a program that will facilitate research exchanges between the two universities.

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As an educational partnership agreement that began in spring 2010, UD and UFLA hope to increase internal interactions by exchanging professors, undergraduate and graduate students for research purposes.

This fall, four professors from UFLA came to UD to discuss the future of this partnership, including possible collaborations on research topics ranging from environmental sustainability to the business of agriculture.

Tom Sims, deputy dean of CANR and the T. A. Baker Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry, said, “Brazil is a country that is up and coming in the world of agriculture. We hope to use this partnership to take advantage of the resources available in Brazil to further our own research initiatives here at UD.”

Visiting faculty included:

• Elias Fialho, vice dean of the UFLA and dean of UFLA's international office, who works in animal science, specifically with poultry and swine nutrition;
• Antonia dos Reis Figueira, coordinator of UFLA's plant pathology post-graduate program, who works with plant viruses and the molecular biology behind plant pathogen interactions;
• Jose Maria de Lima, who is responsible for selection of new students for UFLA graduate courses and works with conservation and soil chemistry;
• Joel Sugano, coordinator of the international graduate cooperation programs between UFLA and U.S. universities, who works in international and agricultural business.

The “sandwich” undergraduate program in technology, engineering and agronomy is currently being implemented as part of a cooperative agreement on education between Brazil and the U.S.

The program's overall objective is to establish links between Brazilian and foreign universities, with the aim of facilitating technological and economic development in Brazil.

Most importantly, this program encourages reciprocal academic exchanges between American and Brazilian students and faculty.

The professors, undergraduate or graduate students who come to the U.S. through the sandwich program do so in order to learn new techniques, to network, or to further their research.

Essentially, this program entails a one-year trip to the U.S. that is "sandwiched" in between work at their home institution in Brazil.

This partnership will allow UD and UFLA to perform cutting-edge research in the agriculture arena. Specifically, this partnership will probe research on agricultural energy and sustainability.

Article by Rachael Dubinsky