Mission

Jacques Avelino has been a plant pathologist for CIRAD (Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement) in France since 1986. He has spent his career conducting research primarily on coffee and cacao pests and diseases in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, and has worked on coffee quality. He is currently posted at CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza) in Costa Rica, studying agroforestry systems with perennial crops. Dr. Avelino has studies the relationships between pest and disease epidemics, the environment and crop management. Recently, he has led different studies on the effect of plant biodiversity on coffee pests and diseases at the plot and landscape scales. He earned his PhD degree from the University of Orsay, Paris, France.

Bharath Bommaraju is a visiting student intern at Texas A&M University. He is pursuing his M.Sc in Horticultural sciences at Univesity of Bologna in Italy; he spent his second semester at the Technical Universty of Munchen in Germany and his third semester at the Free University of Bozen in Bolzano. His deep interest in coffee drives him to do research under the supervision of Dr. Leonardo Lombardini. His research with World Coffee Research is focused on the use of biochar as an alternative substrate to soil in order to improve the growth and nutritional status of coffee plants during the nursery stage. He is also keenly interested in learning about the coffee production chain in the world.

Taya Brown is a Ph.D. student in the Horticulture Department at Texas A&M University focused on food security issues, specifically related to small-scale farming in rural areas, and monitoring and evaluation of international agricultural development projects. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Taya has a strong background in agriculture and plant science. She spent several years working for a small-scale organic farm in Washington State and at the orchard on Washington State University’s (WSU) campus. She holds bachelors degrees from WSU in agricultural food systems, where she majored in organic agriculture and botany, and minored in horticulture and soil science. As part of an undergraduate internship, Taya designed and built a passive-air solar food dehydrator to address the needs of a community in rural Rwanda. In her time at Texas A&M she has won several awards for her service to the university and her promise as a future leader in the international agricultural development community. She spent the summer of 2015 in Guatemala among the indigenous Maya-Itza population, learning Spanish while assisting efforts to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the Petén region. She is currently developing an instrument to collect feedback data on the social impact of development assistance given to small-scale coffee farmers affected by the recent coffee leaf rust disorder epidemic.

Barbara is a Brazilian student currently pursuing a Ph.D. Degree in Plant Physiology. She is conducting her research at Texas A&M University with a scholarship from the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES). She holds a M.S. Degree in Plant Physiology from the Federal University of Lavras and a B.A. in Biology from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. In the last few years Barbara has been involved in numerous research projects, including investigations of coffee flowering and responses to abiotic stresses. Barbara’s past experiences have allowed her to develop skills in molecular biology and improve her knowledge in plant metabolism, which will be useful in future studies regarding coffee. She is also a member of the Brazilian Society of Plant Physiology.

Fabian is a researcher and professor from Costa Rica pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Plant Breeding in the Department of Soil and Crops at Texas A&M University, with a funding from WCR and the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (ITCR). He holds an M.Sc. degree from the University of Costa Rica (UCR), with his investigation on prospecting candidate resistance genes from Coffea germoplam for controlling the Mycena citricolor fungi. For almost eight years he worked on coffee breeding and phytopathology for the Center of Investigation in Coffee (CICAFE) of the Institute of Coffee of Costa Rica (ICAFE) and as a breeding professor at ITCR.

His research in Texas A&M University is emphasized in evaluation the gene expression of coffee plants under physiological stress such as leaf rust and yield and it's impact on the quality.

Lauren Fedenia is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Horticultural Sciences researching coffee under Dr. Leo Lombardini for World Coffee Reasearch at Texas A&M University.  She holds a B.A. in horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Her interest in coffee originates from studying and working in agriculture in Central America.  Her past experience includes working at research field stations, conducting tissue culture in a seed certification laboratory, and teaching on tropical farms.  Coupled with four years of experience as a barista, she has an unyielding passion for coffee.  At Texas A&M, Lauren is motivated to contribute to solving large-scale agricultural problems intertwined with environmentalism and social justice.  She is particularly interested in the investigation of cultural controls to manage disease and increase plant nutrition in coffee systems.

For World Coffee Research, Dr. Chris Kerth works on the sensory analysis of coffee samples. Specifically, his lab tests the chemical components, including volatile aromatic compounds, of coffee samples from WCR research trials undergoing sensory evaluation.

Separately, he is an associate professor of meat science and muscle biology in the Department of Animal Science. His research interests focus primarily on the nutritional, management, and genetic factors that impact the sensory and quality traits of meat. His work includes everything from consumer acceptability to color quality and oxidative stability to fatty acid composition of different meat products.

Chris graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Kansas State University in 1993. Kerth received a master’s and doctorate degree in animal science with an emphasis in meat science from Texas Tech University in 1995 and 1999, respectively.

Dr. Klein’s research focuses on developing the genomic tools and resources in crops to enable map base cloning of economically important genes, to understand the underlying mechanisms that plants use to withstand stress (both biotic and abiotic) and quality. For World Coffee Research, Dr. Klein  supervises an innovative program in genetic diversity, molecular breeding, and genomic selection for coffee. She leads the development of WCR's molecular genetics and genomics program, which allows us to connect the molecular traits of green coffee with genetic precursors. This will substantially aid our efforts to breed improved coffee varieties that will meet the needs of the 21st century. She works collaboratively with the WCR breeding team to develop genomic selection modelling related to growth, productivity, rust resistance and quality.

Patricia Klein received her B.S. in Horticulture from Texas A&M University in 1982. She received an M.S. in Crop Science from Texas Tech University in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University in 1989. She joined the faculty of the Department of Horticultural Sciences in 2002. Dr. Klein is also a member of the Interdepartmental Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences program, a member of the Plant Breeding program and a member of the Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology. In 2012, Dr. Klein was awarded the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award for excellence as a member of the Sorghum Bioenergy Breeding and Genomics Interdisciplinary Research Team.

Dr. Sarada Krishnan is Director of Horticulture and Center for Global Initiatives at Denver Botanic Gardens where she is responsible for directing the design and maintenance of the horticulture collections, and for developing and leading global projects. She has several years of experience in public and commercial horticulture. Her global work and research has taken her to places such as Haiti, Madagascar, South Sudan, Mexico, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Argentina and Mongolia. In collaboration with Crop Trust and World Coffee Research, she was selected as the coffee expert to lead the development of the Global Strategy for Conservation of Coffee Genetic Resources, to be completed by end of 2016.

Sarada has a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture from India and a Master of Science degree in Horticulture from Colorado State University. Her doctorate research at University of Colorado, Boulder, focused on the conservation genetics of wild coffee (Coffea spp.) in Madagascar. Sarada owns coffee plantations in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.

As an Italian, Dr. Lombardini's enthusiasm for coffee has always been part of his life. As a Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, he has conducted research in plant physiology, especially in relation to gas exchange and environmental stresses, and teaches courses regarding the origin of most common and less common horticultural commodities, the social and economic aspects related to their cultivation, and the issues associated with their international trade. Lombardini had research projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica in collaboration with the Borlaug Institute and the AGTEC program. Email: l-lombardini@tamu.edu

Dr. Rhonda Miller is the director of the Sensory Science Evaluation Laboratory at Texas A&M University and a professor in the meat science section in the Department of Animal Science. For World Coffee Research, she leads the sensory evaluation of coffee samples from research trials using the World Coffee Research Sensory Lexicon. Her team is one of only two in the world currently trained on the use of the lexicon.

At A&M, Dr. Miller conducts research on the quality, quantity, safety and usefulness of meat and meat products through her appointment with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and her doctorate from Colorado State University. She conducted her doctorate research in cooperation with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Clay Center, Nebraska.

Dr. Vincent Pétiard has a long career in industrial research and is the former Director of the Nestlé Corporate R&D Center for Plant Science and Technology, an institute he founded and developed in Tours, France. He has considerable experience in Plant Science applications and supply chain for Consumer Good Companies with pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. He is the co-founder (2006) with two professors from Cornell University of Nature Source Genetics, a company of Computational Genomics giving long term services to major seed/food and plantation companies. His technical expertise in agriculture and plant breeding/biotechnology has been applied to a variety of crops — including both specialty and tropical plants. 

Keith A. Read is an undergraduate horticultural sciences major with an agronomy minor at Texas A&M University. Keith is conducting research on the characterization of coffee varieties using Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) and gas-exchange parameters. His work with WCR will help to develop a database for reflectance on coffee beans to improve traceability of Yemeni coffee within the industry. During the summer of 2015, Keith interned in Brazil at Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuaria de Minas Gerais (EPAMIG) and NKG Fazendas Brasileiras Ltda, where he learned about farm management and production systems and sciences related to coffee production. Keith also attended the 18th annual Expocafe symposium in Tres Pontas, Minas Gerais, which is the host to more than 22,000 visitors, 140 exhibitors, and over 370 participants in field dynamics. Keith also attended the IX Simposio de Pesquisa dos Cafes do Brasil in Curitiba, Parana, the largest research symposium of its type in Brasil, attended by top coffee research organizations from around the country, along with the major coffee companies. 

Dr. Restrepo-Diaz is an associate professor in the Department of Agronomy at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. His research focuses on the physiological responses of crops to abiotic stresses in tropical conditions. Also, he works on the use of agronomic strategies to mitigate the effects of abiotic stresses on crop yield. Dr. Restrepo-Diaz is currently a visiting scholar at Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University and is studying the use the biochar in coffee plants with World Coffee Research.

Elmer is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Horticulture under Dr. Patricia Klein at Texas A&M University. Originally from Guatemala, he grew up around the coffee industry as his family produces this crop in the highlands of Santa Rosa. Elmer received his B.S. in Agronomy from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. In 2007, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and came to the U.S. to pursue a M.S. degree in Horticulture at the University of Arkansas. While working on his M.S., he gained practical knowledge in substrate physical and chemical properties, bedding plant production, plant physiology, mineral nutrition and research methods under protected conditions. Coupled with six years of experience in vegetable seed research and production practices at multinational companies, he became interested in the principles of breeding and genetics in plants. During his time at Texas A&M, Elmer seeks to gain an understanding and practical experience in plant molecular breeding, genomics and bioinformatics using coffee as a model crop.

Mark Q Smith is a Texas native and graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.Sc. in Animal Science and a M.Sc. in Horticulture. For 22 years, Mark managed operations and quality control/food safety for Chiquita Brands International in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala and finally served as Global VP of Quality and Food Safety. In 2008, Mark joined the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University where he was part of a groundbreaking team of scientists working on agricultural projects in 18 provinces of Iraq for the U.S. Department of Defense. With funding from the Buffett Foundation and US DOD, Mark and the Borlaug Institute continued similar work in three provinces of Afghanistan. In 2016, he took over the project “Revitalizing the Central American, Caribbean and Peruvian Coffee Sectors after the Rust Crisis of 2012 through Applied Research and Development,” a collaborative program of the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University, World Coffee Research, PROMECAFE, CATIE and USAID.

Dave Terrazas is a Research Associate for the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University, assisting World Coffee Research with sensory analysis and genotyping services. Dave is a Texas native and doctoral student in a Texas A&M/Texas Tech joint program in Agriculture Leadership, Education, and Communications.  Dave enjoyed a career as an intelligence and information technology analyst, supporting development of government analytic capabilities designed to identify precursors of social instability through pattern analysis.  Dave's work and travels grew his interests in food, and led to a second career as a chef and food literacy educator.  Dave researches food security, sustainability, and resiliency improvement through educational innovation, and holds a master’s degree in Homeland Security and a diploma from Le Cordon Bleu. Email: david.terrazas@ag.tamu.edu