VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS IN 2006
Visiting Scientist
Professor Paulo César de Faccio Carvalho from the Faculty of Agronomy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, is spending the period November 2005 - May 2006 with the AGPC Grassland Group as a Visiting Scientist. His research area is grassland management and crop-livestock integrated systems focusing on the impacts of grazing on the productivity and sustainability of such systems. During his stay he will prepare a booklet about integrating crop-livestock in no-till systems, update the Country Pasture Resource Profile for Brazil, and work on projects concerning FAO/Brazil initiatives.Volunteer
Francesca Guiso Gallisai from Rome is spending 6 months from October 2005 to April 2006 with the Grassland Group. Francesca recently graduated in Literature from the Università degli Studi Roma 3 with a thesis on some Latin proverbs. Now she is assisting the Grassland Group with a literature search on social and traditional knowledge in South Caucasus related to use, maintenance and processing of agriculture biodiversity. Moreover, she is collaborating with SDRE to locate any educational and training material for rural people that has been produced by the Grassland Group and to insert the material found into a digital tool kit.VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS IN 2005
Visiting Scientist
Professor Paulo César de Faccio Carvalho from the Faculty of Agronomy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, is spending the period November 2005 - May 2006 with the AGPC Grassland Group as a Visiting Scientist. His research area is grassland management and crop-livestock integrated systems focusing on the impacts of grazing on the productivity and sustainability of such systems. During his stay he will prepare a booklet about integrating crop-livestock in no-till systems, update the Country Pasture Resource Profile for Brazil, and work on projects concerning FAO/Brazil initiatives.Volunteer
Francesca Guiso Gallisai from Rome is spending 6 months from October 2005 to April 2006 with the Grassland Group. Francesca recently graduated in Literature from the Università degli Studi Roma 3 with a thesis on some Latin proverbs. Now she is assisting the Grassland Group with a literature search on social and traditional knowledge in South Caucasus related to use, maintenance and processing of agriculture biodiversity. Moreover, she is collaborating with SDRE to locate any educational and training material for rural people that has been produced by the Grassland Group and to insert the material found into a digital tool kit.Visiting Scientist
Ing. Agr. Stella Altuve (MSc) from the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Argentina, worked with AGPC Grassland Group from 1 to 29 September 2005 as a Visiting Scientist. Her research areas are evaluation of tropical forages and forage seed production. She is currently head of the secretariat of the Campos Group which carries out agricultural research, extension and training activities in northeast Argentina, Uruguay, southeastern Paraguay and Brazil. During her visit Ing. Altuve worked with FAO Officers on alternatives for sustainable crop/grassland systems, and gave a seminar on: "New challenges and trends of agriculture in the Campos Region, including economical trends". Among other projects she worked on the development of a CD-ROM entitled "Campos Working Group: activities and proceedings from over 25 years of regional utilization and development", that should be ready for the next meeting in Brazil, in October 2006.Visiting Scientist
Prof. Alain Peeters is spending the period May-mid June with the AGPC Grassland Group as a Visiting Scientist. Alain PEETERS is agronomist (PhD, University of Louvain, Belgium), Professor and Head of the Grassland Ecology Unit of Louvain University, a unit including about 50 people. He is the representative of West Europe in the Continuing Committee for the organisation of the International Grassland Congress; Liaison Officer of the FAO network of mountain pastures; President of the Committee for the evaluation of forage varieties of the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture; Co-ordinator of several European research projects on grassland and integrated farming; author of several "invited papers" at meetings of the European Grassland Federation and the International Grassland Congress; member of the editorial board of the French journal 'Fourrages'; expert for the European Commission, the FAO, the Ministry of Environment of France and Belgium. His research topics deal with the relationship "agriculture-environment" (biodiversity and nitrogen cycle) and with grassland production and quality. Also, he has a special interest in the development and evaluation (indicators) of sustainable farming systems in pilot farms, namely those integrating grassland and arable land. Prof. Peeters is the author of the book "Wild and Sown Grasses. Profiles of a temperate species selection: ecology, biodiversity and use" published by FAO and Blackwells in 2004. During his stay, he is working, together with FAO Officers, on alternative ways to preserve and use the natural resources of grasslands. Among the projects he is working on is the writing of a book on 'organic grassland management'.Visitor
Julien Gonnet from France, following his earlier work in 2004, is again working with the Grassland Group from January to June, 2005. His focus is on the preparation of two project proposals: “Kereib or Ichiban, Wild Graminaes for Food Security and Environment Protection in Sahel - Sudan, Niger and Chad” and “Dihé or Spirulina: a Cyanobacteria for Food Security and Womens' Empowerment”. These should be completed by June 2005. He is also assisting with the finalization of a publication based on the work of Dr. Mahgoub G. Zaroug on “Non Traditional Food (NTF) as a source of human food in Sudan”.Volunteer
Alice Tempel Costa, from Brazil, is spending 6 months from mid-May to mid-October 2005 with the Grassland Group. Alice recently graduated in Agronomy from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul where she undertook coursework and field training in agronomy including entomology, biological control, plant pathology and genetics. Her work experience has also included training at Embrapa with emphasis on peach tree pollination studies. The focus of her work in Rome will be on general grassland issues and Conservation Agriculture.VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS IN 2004
Visitor
Julien Gonnet, from France, worked with the Grassland Group from 1 September to 10 October, 2004. Julien holds a Master of Geography degree from the University of Lyon III, France and has specialized in development issues, geography, biodiversity, forestry and has good skills in networking, fund raising and communication. In 2003 he undertook field work for 5 months in Brazil for his thesis on “Interrelation between production of charcoal, iron and deforestation in Açailândia–Maranhão–Brazil”. During his period with the Grassland Group he worked on Kereib: “Sahelian wild grasses for food security” and assisted in the preparation of a number of project proposals involving two African countries (Sudan and Niger). He also worked on additional proposals and a network on: “Dihé, a natural resource for food security and women empowerment” in Lake Chad. From 15 October to 22 December 2003 he travelled to Chad to gather information on Kereib and Dihé, make contacts and discuss possible future extension of these projects. At the same time undertook research for his further studies in the “DESS: Sustainable Development for Pressured Lands and Societies” of the University of Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland.
