40 years of Microbiology at ESALQ

In 2016, the Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology at the “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture (USP/ESALQ) celebrates 40 years of existence, teaching, research and a lot of dedication. To celebrate the date, Fernando Dini Andreote, now program coordinator, prepared, together with the students, a tribute to those responsible for structuring and developing the postgraduate program. “Recognizing merit is not simply recognizing success, but rather admiring the strength that a person has in overcoming difficulties that have certainly come their way”, highlighted Andreote.

The tribute took place on May 5th, during the 2nd Agricultural Microbiology Symposium and was dedicated to the people who contributed to the progress of microbiology and the ESALQ postgraduate course. Among those honored were professor Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso, professor João Lucio Azevedo and coordinator Fernando Dini Andreote.

Elke was dedicated to the program from the beginning and, today, even though she is retired, she continues to be linked to the institution and the microbial universe, teaching and supervising master's and doctoral students. “When the program was created, a person was needed to be responsible for the development and organization of the disciplines, the administrative area, the scholarships and the students, as each one has different needs. I then became responsible for these functions that were fundamental to the structuring and growth of the course,” she said.

João Lucio Azevedo, now also retiring, contributed and continues to contribute to the postgraduate program. “It was a course that was born from the combination of three areas: phytopathology, food technology and genetics. I was able to contribute to the development and evolution of microbiology by always teaching subjects focused on the area of ​​genetics,” he said.

Andreote also highlighted that, in microbiology, we are living in a golden age. “We are in the spotlight and the best strategy is to trust in the young, in the new, in the ability to do things differently and better.”