Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril has new managers

Researcher Laurimar Gonçalves Vendrusculo is the new general head of Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril (Sinop-MT). She replaces researcher Austeclínio Lopes de Farias Neto, who held the role between 2015 and 2021.

Laurimar takes on the position after being approved in the selection and recruitment process carried out by Embrapa's executive board. The term of office is two years and can be renewed up to twice for the same period, totaling six years.

According to the new general manager, the objective in the position will be to follow the work plan prepared, establish external partnerships and strengthen the relationship with the production sector, so that they can count on Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril in relation to technological solutions that leverage sustainable production systems further.

“This is our main motto and we must provide this effectively, in the time that the productive sector needs, but in a two-way way. We deliver, but we need to gather demands, financial support and help in publicizing these processes within the production sector”, says Laurimar Vendrusculo.

For the new general manager, assuming the leadership of an Embrapa research center in Mato Grosso, one of the largest national exponents in terms of agricultural production, is a great responsibility. At the same time, a great opportunity to work with innovations that can bring more sustainability to the production sector. Furthermore, she hopes that her experience can serve as an inspiration to other women so that they can take on management roles in science and technology.

“It’s a feeling of joy, of accomplishment, but at the same time of great responsibility. To work with a mission as big as this, which is to lead Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril to its full potential,” he says.

The transfer of the position only occurred officially. However, an inauguration ceremony, with the participation of institutional partners, research center employees and society, will still be scheduled by Embrapa's board of directors.

Laurimar Vendrusculo will be the third person to occupy the position of general head of Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril. Before her, João Flávio Veloso headed the Unit from the time of its creation, in 2009, until 2015. He was succeeded by Austecllínio Farias Neto, who has just left the post.

Training

Graduated in Electrical Engineering, the new general manager has been a researcher at Embrapa since 1994, when she joined Embrapa Informática Agropecuária (today Embrapa Agricultura Digital), located in Campinas (SP). She has a master's degree in Agricultural Engineering from Unicamp and a doctorate with a double degree in Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering from Iowa State University, in the United States.

Throughout his career he worked with agricultural databases, data mining, geostatistics, web applications, information technologies and spatial variability.

Since 2014, she has been working at Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril, where she is one of the focal points of the Agricultural Climate Risk Zoning (Zarc) in Mato Grosso. It contributed to the validation of the zoning of crops such as soybeans, corn, cotton, cowpeas, sorghum and fruit trees. Coordinating the Environmental Geotechnology Laboratory (Sigeo), she developed research in the area of ​​geotechnology and remote sensing and is Embrapa's representative in the Secretariat of Science and Innovation of the Government of Mato Grosso.

Deputy Managers

The new general head will have at her side in the management of Embrapa Agrossilvopastoril the researcher Rafael Major Pitta as deputy head of Research and Development, the researcher Flávio Jesus Wruck as deputy head of Technology Transfer, and the analyst Antônio Marcos dos Santos, as Deputy Head of Administration. Flávio and Antônio Marcos already held their respective positions at the end of the previous administration.

Embrapa Agrosilvopastoral

Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril is one of Embrapa's newest decentralized Units, having been created in 2009. Located in Sinop (MT), it develops research on crops of interest to the agricultural sector in Mato Grosso, with emphasis on alternatives for integrated agricultural production systems , such as crop-livestock-forest integration (ILPF).

When it opened in 2012, the research center had 110 employees. There are currently 64 employees, including 26 analysts, 22 researchers, 9 assistants and 7 technicians. In addition to these, another 9 employees from other Embrapa Units are stationed in Sinop, six of whom are researchers and three technicians.