National Agriculture Research Institue

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2682-3692

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Current positions and main activities • Director of the Research Program on Pastures and Forages, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA Uruguay). • Researcher level 1, Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, ANII (Uruguay). • Adjunct Teaching Proffesor (Privat-Dozent), Grassland Science, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München (Germany) • Postgradute teaching • Supervision of students   Presentation and Scientific Expertise I am 46 years old, married, with two kids. I was born in West Lafayette (IN, USA), resided for some 25 years in Argentina and 15 years in Germany. I now live with my family in Colonia, Uruguay. I speak fluently English and Spanish. I graduated as Ing.Agr. (1996) and made a M.Sc. in Animal Production (1998), both at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (Argentina). I spent one year at the Macaulay Institute (Scotland, 2001) as a fellow of the British Council. I have a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences (2004) and an Habilitation in “Crop Production and Grassland Management” (2012), both at the Technische Universität München (Germany). My work focused on the physiology, ecology and agronomy of forage crops. I have developed two lines of research. On one hand, during my Ph.D. and Habilitation (2000-2012), I studied the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen storage in plants, and its subsequent mobilization and use as substrates for growth and respiration. On the other hand, since 2007, I carry out studies in the natural grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay, analyzing the role of temperature, nitrogen fertilization and grazing management as determinants of the balance between C3 (cool-season) and C4 (warm-season) species. Further, since 2009 I work with colleagues from the EEA Balcarce of INTA (Argentina) diagnosing nitrogen deficiency in forage crops, and since 2012, with colleagues of the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) analyzing the effects of multiple symbioses –mycorrhizal fungi, endophyte fungi, and nitrogen fixing bacteria– on the establishment and function of grass/legume mixtures. Such a diversity of topics has given me skills in a variety of methods and techniques. I am familiar with the use of stable isotopes of carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N), both at natural abundance (e.g. to determine water use efficiency in C3 species, quantify biological nitrogen fixation, and partition C3 vs. C4 carbon), and in labeling studies (e.g. to quantify carbon and nitrogen capture and allocation). I also know how to apply compartmental modeling to analyze isotope dynamics. Further, I have experience in the use of the Nitrogen Nutrition Index and SPAD to quantify nitrogen deficiency in crops, and in carrying out grazing experiments with controlled swards state.   Current activities Since 2015, I lead a group of ~15 researchers whose aim is to lead the development of technology for forage production systems in Uruguay. Our goal is to promote the economic and social development of farmers, with a known and controlled environmental impact, by designing agroecosystems that are biodiverse, stable, efficient in the use of nutrients, and with potential for carbon sequestration. Our current research includes (i) breeding new forage cultivars, and studies on (ii) the productivity, stability and resilience of both natural grasslands and sown pastures, including forage conservation, and on (iii) the cycling of nutrients on grazed agroecosystems, with emphasis on nitrogen, and its relationship to soil carbon stocks.