Ļć½¶Ö±²„alumnus, retired researcher named president of Brazilian agriculture agency
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.āA Mississippi State alumnus who earned Ļć½¶Ö±²„graduate degrees in entomology is being named president of the Brazilian equivalent of the U.S. Department of Agricultureāthe Brazilian Agricultural Research Corp., or EMBRAPA.
SebastiĆ£o Barbosaās experience includes decades of addressing food security challenges and promoting integrated pest-management principals in more than 50 developing countries during his tenure as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizationās officer for integrated pest management worldwide. Barbosa, who also served as the FAOās senior plant protection officer for Latin America, was a featured speaker at a 2012 international food security conference held at MSU.
In 2014, Ļć½¶Ö±²„honored Barbosa with an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his international famine-relief efforts and his leadership in eradication of the Mediterranean fruit fly in South America.
During his career, Barbosa implemented agricultural research-cooperation agreements with the U.S. and numerous other nations. As a leader of EMBRAPA, Barbosa has helped develop sustainable technologies to increase food supply and protect the environment. He served as the chief negotiator for loans and grants from international banks, governments and agencies.
He also worked internationally as an independent consultant in tropical agriculture and as technical director of RuralProsper, a consulting firm in agriculture, environmental protection and rural development.
āDr. Barbosa has applied the graduate education obtained at Ļć½¶Ö±²„to a lifetime of fighting global poverty and food insecurity, and he has often cited the universityās role in helping shape his career,ā said Ļć½¶Ö±²„President Mark E. Keenum. āHe is an outstanding representative of Ļć½¶Ö±²„and we congratulate him on this well-deserved appointment.ā
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .