Carmenza E.
Gongora B.

Biography

With an extended experience in Biotechnology and Biological Control of insect plagues on plants, I have applied state of the art scientific technologies to find solutions to control the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) and other insect pests of coffee. I am Multidisciplinary scientist and an experienced research.
My approaches include the development of resistant varieties of coffee plants by identifying heterologous and homologous resistance genes that can be introduced into genetic pools for breeding of new varieties, as well as the improvement of entomopathogens such as the fungus Beauveria bassiana, that can be used to strengthen biological control in integrated insect management strategies.

My goal is to develop new strategies, in novel ways, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective for the control of pest and diseases in plants.

Projects