Mission

Jean Paul has a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Science and an advanced diploma in Crop Production from the University of Rwanda, College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (CAVM). He has several years of very relevant experience in field data collection and in managing projects in coffee agronomy and processing with farmers and cooperatives.

Jarrod has a degree in Finance from Texas A&M University and 15 years of finance and accounting experience, primarily with non-profit organizations. He is based in Texas and is very enthusiastic about helping farmers and their communities.

Julio is a research technician in charge of the supervision and control of activities at Flor Amarailla, the WCR Research Farm located in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Julio is Salvadorian and since childhood has lived in an agricultural environment. He has a bachelor degree in Food Science at Pan-American Agricultural School, Zamorano, and has a Master’s degree on Coffee Science and Economics at University of Udine, Trieste and Fondazione Ernesto Illy

Alexa joins World Coffee Research with fifteen years of combined experience in nonprofit fundraising and corporate investor relations.  She is passionate about social justice issues and excited to engage more partners in WCR's work, which will benefit millions of small farmers in developing countries. Having lived and worked in Germany for five years, Alexa is particularly interested in developing global partner relationships.  Contact: alexa@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Peter provides database management, oversight, and strategy to World Coffee Research.  He graduated from McGill University with a focus in Remote Sensing, a field in which he invented and patented a method of agriculture monitoring.  Peter previously supported the Coffee Board of India on several projects assessing specialty coffee certification for tribal farm communities. Email: peter@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Maureen Namugalu holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Land Use and Management from Makerere University. Maureen is the lead country agronomist for the WCR Global Coffee Monitoring Program in Uganda. She is an agronomist and soil scientist by profession, with strong agricultural production background. Maureen has worked with Café Africa Uganda in collaboration with UCDA and NaCORI for the last three years focusing on coffee agronomy, coffee extension services, and the assessment of coffee seedling survival rate of Arabica and Robusta coffee in Uganda. She established experimental research trials at the National Crop Resource Research Institute in collaboration with the University of Bonn. Maureen has also carried out independent research on soil conservation practices of coffee farming systems along a slope.

Hector Santos has worked in the coffee industry for over 10 years, as both a producer and technician. He is an agronomist and has a masters degree in project management from the Technological University of Honduras. He has worked with The World Food Program as a field technician, organizing basic grain producers in the region.  He also lead and trained groups of coffee producers in the department of El Paraíso.

Most recently, he worked for the Hans R. Neumann Foundation as a technician of the Coffee & Climate initiative in the El Paraiso region, implementing demonstration and research plots with adaptation measures to climate change, working in close relationship with IHCAFE.

Jose Paiz has an engineering degree in forestry engineering and a specialization degree in agricultural production under controlled conditions. He comes to WCR with ten years of experience in agricultural and forestry farm management, especially in the cultivation of coffee, the use of forest plantations, and nurseries.

Molly comes to WCR with over 10 years of experience in the banking industry and a background in biology. Combining these skills, she administers the WCR Checkoff Program, assisting current and prospective participants with inquiries, enrollment, and best practices for implementation. Molly works in coordination with the Partnership Director, Financial and Administrative Director, and Business Manager. She is based out of Portland, OR. Contact: molly@worldcoffeeresearch.org              

Maud Nicolas joined WCR in late 2018. She provides overall administrative and financial coordination for the World Coffee Research in Europe and also assists the CEO. As WCR Europe’s Business Manager, she works closely with the Administration and Finance Director and accountant. She’s proud to join WCR and to contribute to the organization's development. She is based in Marseille, France. Contact: maud@worldcoffeeresearch.org.

Elly Castro is the Country Agronomist for Nicaragua and coordinates WCR's activities in Nicaragua.  Elly earned an agricultural engineering degree in agricultural education from EARTH University in Costa Rica and a master's degree in hydrology and water resources management from Acala de Henares University in Madrid, Spain. He has experience in coffee agronomy, nursery production, natural resources management and field data collection and analysis.

Emilia is responsible for all field activities related to the coffee seed and nursery sectors under the WCR Nursery Development Program. Emilia has an agricultural engineering degree in agronomy from EARTH University in Costa Rica, and a degree as a project manager specialist from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. She has a depth of experience and understanding of renovation programs and the coffee nursery and seed sector from her work in nurseries.

Sylvain Roulain is WCR’s project agronomist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He earned his degree as Agronomist from ISTOM in Cergy-Pontoise, France in 2016, and his coursework focused predominantly on international development and agronomic research through experimentation. Before starting with WCR, he worked with FREDON Martinique to study Mammea Apple.

Dr. Lucile Toniutti is World Coffee Research's molecular breeder. She is an agronomist specialized in plant breeding holding a Ph.D from Montpellier SupAgro. Her work sits at the crossroads of plant disease, genetics, and agronomy. During her Ph.D. studies she researched  the effect of plant health on reducing coffee leaf rust incidence on Arabica coffee trees. Email: lucile@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Josue Omar Callejas earned his bachelor's degree in Food Science and Technology at Zamorano Agricultural Panamerican School in Honduras. He completed internship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a research assistant in a microbiology laboratory, a graduation research project developed with Archer Daniel's Midland Company.

Solene oversees the network of the International Multilocation Variety Trial. She also coordinates the DNA Fingerprinting analysis. She obtained a master's degree in agronomy in France and has been working on seed production and breeding. Solene believes that understanding farmers constraints is a key driver for research activities and context adapted innovations. Email: solene@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Koleen has 30+ years of experience in non-profit management and enjoys working as part of a team to keep no-profit organizations running smoothly.  As WCR's Business Manager, she works closely with the Finance Team to handle billing and payments, contracts, and human resources. She is based in Portland, OR. Contact:  koleen@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Elisabeth Moore holds a bachelors degree from McGill University in English Literature and Arabic. She comes to WCR with several years of marketing, advertisement, and sales experience. As WCR's communications coordinator she combines her love of writing, science, and coffee.

Jean Baptiste Kayigamba spent the last three years as a field facilitators for the Rwanda Agriculture Board’s coffee program, where he prepared and set up varietal trials, collected data, and managed the nursery.  He holds a BA in Agronomy from University of Rwanda College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine. 

Dr. Simon Martin Mvuyekure is WCR's Regional Coffee Breeding hub Coordinator for Africa. He holds a Msc. in crop protection from “Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and a Ph.D in plant breeding, from the University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa).  For the last 13 years, he worked for Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB). His research focused on varietal development, coffee pests and disease management as well as coffee system agronomy. He contributed to the conception and management of outstanding coffee research projects aiming the sustainability of the coffee sector in Rwanda.

Since their establishment back in 2016, he is leading IMLVTs and the African Regional Breeding Hub hosted by Rwanda.

We honor the memory of our dear colleague, Pascal, who passed away in a tragic accident on February 4. Pascal leaves behind a deep legacy of service and devotion to coffee, and to his home country of Rwanda. Pascal was born into a coffee farming family. His career in coffee began more than 15 years ago, when he worked as an agronomist and coffee washing station manager with Rwanda's first specialty coffee washing station, MARABA. He worked as a sustainability and farmer relationship manager at KZNOIR Limited, where he supported 10,000 coffee farmers by managing certification programs and creating projects that impacted the local community. Pascal was involved in the SPREAD and PEARL projects with Dr. Tim Schilling in the mid-2000s as coffee quality manager; those programs launched Rwanda to becoming a mecca for specialty coffee and generated millions of dollars of value for the Rwandan economy. He was trained in coffee cupping, export processes, and coffee marketing. For WCR, Pascal built an unprecedented network of partnerships and farmer field trials in east Africa. Just days before his death, Pascal had been promoted to Regional Coordinator for all of WCR's Africa programs. Pascal has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Rwanda. He is survived by his wife, Gloriose, and four children.

Sara Bogantes has worked in coffee for five years. Previously, she worked at the Doka Estate and La Hilda coffee plantations in Costa Rica. She has developed and implemented agricultural best practices,  as well as designed and created a germplasm bank to assist in the improvement of coffee plants on the farm. The latter project included evaluating different varieties, their performance in the cup, pest and disease resistance, and yield per plant. She was responsible for the entire seed exportation process that included managing a staff to collect and execute seed selection for export, quality control, and necessary documentation.

José is originally from Costa Rica, but considers himself as a “traveling agronomist” since he has studied and worked in Guatemala, Honduras, the United States, Switzerland, Brazil and El Salvador. José graduated from the Pan-American School of Agriculture – Zamorano – with postgraduate degrees in crop production and physiology from Iowa State University and in integrated crop management from the University of Neuchâtel.  He has fourteen years of international experience in agriculture, data development, monitoring, evaluation, extension and research.

Contact: josemaria@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Remy Rodriguez has 10+ years experience in the coffee industry in PR and USA. He earned his degree as an Agronomist from the University of Puerto Rico- Mayagüez Campus, with specialization in soil fertility and natural resource conservation. He has worked as a consultant with different coffee producers, mills, nurseries, roasters and is also a board member to the local coffee producers cooperative (PROCAFE) in Puerto Rico. He is now proud to call himself a first generation coffee producer in the municipality of Guayanilla, PR.

Hector Hernández holds a degree in Alternative Horticultural and Fruit Production, as well as a degree in Food Safety and Environmental Management of International Food Commerce. He has ten years of experience in the field. The agriculture activities that he has developed are the establishment of phytosanitary and nutritional plans, supervision of labors and personal, monitoring crops and training farmers.

Walter graduated from Agronomic Engineering at the Catholic University of El Salvador. He currently resides in the Western side of this country in a town called San Jose La Majada. This small town is known for producing, processing and distributing coffee. Walter’s experience with coffee began at a young age, where he had the opportunity to work with different agronomical processes at local coffee farms. He also has technical knowledge in different crops like Fruit Crops and horticulture.

Ana is the Accounting Manager of World Coffee Research and among her responsibilities are the analysis of financial information and the preparation of financial reports within the organization. She has a master's degree in accounting from Texas A&M university, is a Certified Public Accountant and is fluent in English and Spanish and has a working knowledge of French. She is excited about being part of the first collaborative agricultural R&D organization for coffee.

Kristin comes to WCR after managing R&D and policy programming for USAID where she oversaw the planning and execution of programs under the Feed the Future Research Strategy. Prior to joining USAID, Kristin was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar where she worked as a small enterprise development volunteer supporting farmers and artisans to expand their businesses. Kristin holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Iowa. Kristin is excited to join the team in support WCR’s mission.    

Efrain is an agronomist with a Master's degree in Agricultural Engineering and Integral Water Use from the Autonomous University of Chapingo, Mexico. He has experience in participatory research processes at the field level in matters of evaluation of the impact of agricultural practices, land degradation, as well as experience in agricultural extension and technology transfer. He is passionate about using his work to increase productivity and profitability for small coffee producers.

Donnel Jun Tiedra is an agronomist who has worked in agriculture for the last 9 years in the Philippines. He has a BSc in Plant Breeding and Genetics from University of Southern Mindanao, and an Masters in Public Administration from Cor Jesu College. Prior to joining WCR, he worked as Technical Advisory and Marketing Supervisor of Agriculture, Food and Life Department at SGS Philippines. He also worked as Coffee Agronomist for 6 years at Nestle Philippines. He was responsible for implementing the Nescafe Plan, ensuring sustainable supply of good quality green coffee and helping the Filipino coffee farmers increase their yield and income from coffee farming. He also did multi-location trials for new clones of Robusta coffee to assess performance on yield, pest and disease tolerance.

Moises is an agronomist from Danlí city, in the region of El Paraiso in Honduras. He has worked in maize, sugar and coffee production, specifically working in farm management, technical consultation and agricultural research. He is also a coffee producer, and is interested in productive sustainability, crop nutrition, coffee cup quality and climate change.

Jesslin Zeledón holds a degree in Administration of Coffee Farms and is currently completing a Master's degree in Business Management. She has five years of experience working on sustainable rural development projects. She also worked with small coffee producers and cooperatives, providing technical assistance and developing  experimentation processes improve of productivity, as well as an improve quality of life.

Manuel Ramos is a third-generation coffee farmer who has a Masters degree in Coffee Science and Economics. He has lead coffee sustainability programs across Guatemala for the last 6 years, focusing mainly in high yielding producion systems, processing and entrepreneurship.

Nuzul has spent more than 18 years working in both the private sector and non-profit organizations in Indonesia. His first experience in non-profit began 15 years ago when earthquake and tsunami disaster hit his hometown in Aceh on 2004. Since then he has managed several sustainable agriculture project, which aimed to increase the productivity and quality, as well as promoting alternative income streams for smallholders. They also aimed to strengthen farmer organizations in order to increase the income for smallholders along the supply chain in different provinces. He actively plays a role to support smallholders from on-farm up to national level for coffee and cocoa initiatives in the region. In 2018 he was elected as chairman of General Assembly of Cocoa Sustainable Partnership in Indonesia. He is based in Banda Aceh. Contact: nuzul@worldcoffeeresearch.org

Square K. Nyasulu is an agronomist at Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union, situated in Mzuzu city of Northern Malawi. He also works with WCR to establish and run OFTTs in Malawi. His major role at Mzuzu Coffee is to coordinate extension and training for over 2,600 farmers. His main interest is to foster sustainability of the coffee industry through technologies that mitigates the growing challenge of climate change.

Before joining Mzuzu Coffee, Mr Nyasulu worked as an Agronomist at the Tea Research Foundation where he helped to develop simple and efficient labor saving tea harvesting methods. He also worked at Agricultural Trading Company in Malawi and has a vast knowledge of agricultural input chain.

Jimmy More is the Country Agronomist for Peru. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Universidad Nacional Agraria de la Selva and a master’s degree in environmental management and sustainable development from the “Universidad Nacional Jorge Basadre Grohmann”, both in Perú. His research was focused on soil area and plant growth. He has worked in coffee projects and has experience training producers in coffee agronomy and nursery production.

Nicaise Sheila Sagbo is in charge of the economic analysis of the Global Coffee Monitoring Program. She also helps manage the WCR database for the program. She is based at the Texas A&M University where she holds a position of Associate Research Scientist. Sheila has worked on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assess the impact of agricultural policies in Haiti. She has more than ten years of experience in research design, data collection, data management, and econometric analysis. Sheila holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and degrees in Agronomy and Agricultural Development.