Embrapa researcher is one of the top 100 scientists in the world

Embrapa Soja researcher Mariangela Hungary is in first position in Brazil and is the only one from South America in the recently launched ranking of the 100 main scientists in Phytotechnics and Agronomy (Plant Science and Agronomy), published by research.com, a website that offers data on scientific contributions worldwide. The researcher celebrates participating in this ranking, but considers the moment to be an opportune moment for reflection. “Although Brazilian leadership in agriculture is exalted, the number of Brazilian researchers in the Agronomy research ranking is very small in relation to other countries, for example, USA (554), Australia (183), United Kingdom (141). Agriculture of the future needs science, research. Clearly the ranking indicates low investment in research in agriculture, which needs to be reversed if we do not want to simply be importers of cutting-edge agricultural technologies”, highlights Mariangela Hungary. 

The ranking considers scientific contributions - h-index values ​​(quantifies the productivity and impact of the most cited scientific articles), publications and citations - collected on December 6, 2021. Profiles of 166.880 scientists from around the world in 21 areas were analyzed. sciences, available on Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph. In the area of ​​Phytotechnics and Agronomy, more than 2.575 profiles were examined. In this ranking, There are 36 Brazilians, nine from Embrapa, including two renowned scientists who have already passed away, Nand Kumar Fageria (Embrapa Rice and Beans) and Johanna Döbereiner (Embrapa Agrobiologia). 

Also worth mentioning is the group formed by coordinators of the National Institute of Science and Technology of Microorganisms in Agriculture (INCT), which has five researchers among the top 13 in the Brazilian ranking and four of them are from Embrapa Agrobiologia (According to Urquiaga, Robert Michael Boddey , Verônica Massena Reis and Bruno Alves), as well as Johanna Döbereiner. There are also Embrapa researchers in other areas of science, such as Animal and Veterinary Science. “The placement of INCT coordinators at the top of global research confirms the impact and high level of quality that Brazilian research into microorganisms in agriculture has in the world. We invest a lot in collaboration, overcoming challenges, group work. And I believe we deserve opportunities to express our full potential. We will only be able to express our potential with a minimum investment, which becomes more difficult every year”, comments Mariangela.

According to the Research website, the aim of publishing the ranking is to inspire academics, entrepreneurs and decision-makers around the world to explore where leading experts are directing their activities, as well as to provide an opportunity for the entire scientific community to identify who are the leading experts in specific fields of research, in different countries or even within research institutions.

Research activities

Mariangela conducts research aimed at developing bacteria-based inoculants that replace nitrogen fertilizers and enable more sustainable agriculture. She is one of those responsible for the development of soybean inoculation and co-inoculation technologies, which has promoted great leaps in productivity in the field: biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) brings annual savings of 14 billion dollars to Brazil, do not use nitrogen fertilizer.

In addition to the work with soybeans, Mariangela also coordinated research that culminated in the launch of other technologies: authorization/recommendation of bacteria (rhizobia) for bean crops, Azospirillum for corn and wheat crops and pastures with brachiaria and coinoculation of rhizobia and Azospirillum for soybean and bean crops and pasture improvement.

Curriculum

Mariangela has a degree in Agricultural Engineering (USP-ESALQ), a master's degree in Soils and Plant Nutrition (USP–ESALQ), a doctorate in Soil Science (UFRRJ) and post-doctoral studies at three universities: Cornell University, University of California-Davis and University of Seville. The researcher is a commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit and a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. She has been a researcher at Embrapa since 1982 and has been working at Embrapa Soja since 1991. She is a professor and postgraduate advisor in Microbiology and Biotechnology at the State University of Londrina and in the Bioinformatics course at the Federal Technological University of Paraná.

Mariangela was a representative of the environmental and soil area of ​​the Brazilian Society of Microbiology for 20 years, was the first president of the Brazilian Society of Soil Science and served as vice-president and president of RELARE (Meeting of the Network of Laboratories for Recommendation, Standardization and Diffusion of Microbial Inoculant Technology of Agricultural Interest), which brings together representatives from research, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) and the private sector. He is also part of the coordinating committee of the N2Africa project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for biological nitrogen fixation projects in Africa, in addition to projects with practically all countries in South America and the Caribbean, as well as countries in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada.

Previous recognition

In November 2020, Mariangela Hungary was ranked among the 100 most influential scientists in the world, according to a study by Stanford University (USA). The study, entitled “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators”, was carried out using a global database with seven million scientists and published in the prestigious journal PLOS Biology. In the study, citations from the Scopus database were used, which updates the position of scientists in two rankings: 1) the researcher's impact throughout their career and; 2) the impact of the researcher.