INTERNATIONAL SHORT COURSES

Since year 2000, I have had the opportunity to deliver several International Short Courses in different countries and under different settings.

Xalapa, Mexico, September-October, 2005. I participated in the Sustainable Development Open Seminar at the University of Veracruz as Lecturer and Panelist. Using of Simulation Modeling to Measure and Compare Sustainability of Systems.

Guayaquil, Ecuador, July-August, 2003. I taught a two-week module on "Applied Rural Sustainable Development" as part of a M.S. program on "Tropical Development Agriculture" given by the University of Guayaquil and the ESPOL University. Twenty two students participated in the module.

Managua, Nicaragua, June, 2003. I gave a one-week course on Adaptability Analysis to 35 extension agents and university professors.

Managua, Nicaragua, June, 2002. Teaching of one-week course on Adaptability Analysis and project elaboration to 28 researchers and scientists of the National Service of Agricultural Research.

Huancavelica, Peru, May, 2001. Two-week course on Farm Management addressed to 90 small farmers in one of the poorest areas of Peru's mountains.

Managua, Nicaragua, January, 2000. One-week course on Adaptability Analysis addressed to 30 extension agents from the National Extension Service from Nicaragua. (press release 1, press release 2)

UNIVERSITY TEACHING

Since 1999 I have had assisted Dr. Peter E. Hildebrand at the University of Florida in his fall course AEB 5167: "Economic analysis of small farm livelihoods," in which we use linear programming models to simulate and assess viable alternatives for small farm livelihoods systems. My major responsibilities have been conducting the computer labs and advising students in their projects. Many students have been using this tool in their Theses and Dissertations and I have been continuing assisting them.

I have also assisted Dr. Hildebrand in his spring course ALS 5830: "Farming Systems Research and Extension," in which we introduce students with the "sondeo" and the "adaptability analysis” research methodologies. The sondeo is a rapid rural interview technique and the adaptability analysis is an alternative way of agricultural research, which uses on-farm trials, allows researchers to analyze results using different criteria, and generates different extension messages for different farm categories.

The National Agrarian University La Molina initiated a new M.S. Program called Innovacion Agraria para el Desarrollo Rura in the year 2002. I was included as part of the professors' team as a invited faculty.

COLLEGE TEACHING

I have started teaching in an Agricultural College in Cañete (Valle Grande College), Peru, right after graduating from the University as Agricultural Engineer (1994). I taught several courses to young farmers including Biology, Botany, Vegetal Physiology, Agricultural Ecosystems, Farm Management, Agricultural Economics, Tropical Crops, and Agricultural Extension, during three and a half years. The college teaching included personal mentoring and individual counseling not only at the school, but at their farms too. Because students lived in the school during classes’ periods, part of the work was also facilitating the residence time.

ADULT EDUCATION - EXTENSION

After finishing my MS degree (2000), I have worked for two years in diagnosing, program planning, and delivering extension programs for small farmers in the Cañete community, Peru, under the coordination of the Valle Grande Rural Institute inside a project with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Thousands of beneficiaries were reached with a variety of specially designed courses.