In Vermont, dairy is a big deal. As such, one of the first things the Food Systems Research Center did is put out a call for a cohort of six postdocs studying various aspects of dairy sciences in relation to food systems. The Dairy Science Postdocs work with mentors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as well as mentors working as research scientists for the . We are so fortunate to have this talented group of scientists on campus working to address critical issues in one of largest and most critical facets of the Vermont food system and economy.
Felipe Machado De Santanna
A native of Brazil, Felipe is working with John Barlow, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, as well as USDA Researchers and . Their project is investigating resistomes of pathogens present in milk and dairy products. They are utilizing a high-throughput sequencing on US dairy farms with the goal of detecting animicrobial genes associated with pathogens in the dairy chain production. They are also interested in investigating these resistance genes in cheese to determine which ones are most prominent with the overarching goal of developing ways to mitigate pathogen transmission. Felipe obtained his PhD in Animal Sciences from the Veterinary School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Felipe is excited to be in Vermont, especially as a cheese lover. A fun fact about Felipe, he brought multiple video games consoles with him, two of which weigh 11 lbs individually. As a result he had to rearrange his bags to meet airline travel requirements.
Eric Hatungimana
Eric was born and raised in Rwanda. Following a stint as a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire, Eric joins us at ¶¶Òõ̽̽ to further his research knowledge and skills. He is working with Sabrina Greenwood, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Heather Darby, Extension Professor: Agronomy Specialist, and USDA Researcher . Their project is titled "Sustainable intensification of forage-based dairy farms through improved forage and feeding." The goal of their project is to aid dairy farms in maximizing their economic and environmental gains, as well as their agronomic productivity through forage management. Eric obtained his PhD in Nutrition at the University of New Hampshire. A fun fact about Eric is he speaks four languages: Kinyarwanda, Swahili, French and English.
Sardor Musayev
Sardor comes to ¶¶Òõ̽̽ with over a decade of experience in agricultural development. Sardor's mentors are Joshua Faulkner, Research Assistant Professor and Farming and Climate Change Program Coordinator, Donna Rizzo, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Asim Zia, Professor of Community Development and Applied Economics, and Ray Bryant and Paul Adler, both Research Scientists with the USDA. They are working on developing innovative approaches to integrate precision agriculture technologies for future farm workers and the broad field of agriculture with an emphasis on developing artificial intelligence algorithms. The precision agriculture tools they are developing will help farm management connect through a human-technology partnership, increase agricultural productivity and efficiency, and preserve resources. A native of the Fergana Valley region of Central Asia, Sardor obtained his PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Connecticut. Sardor enjoys spending time with his family and said his sons are big chess players who love to beat their dad at chess.
Takis Oikonomou
A native of Greece, Takis is working with Asim Zia, Donna Rizzo, Jane Kolodinsky, Professor and Chair of Community Development and Applied Economics and Interim Associate Dean of Research, and , Research Scientist for the USDA. Their project is working to integrate the "human" element in the ruminant farm system, including developing a decision-making graphical user interface that will display costs and requirements for transition to new management practices for farmers. The goal of their project is to help dairy farmers make data-informed decisions regarding alternative management practices. Takis obtained his PhD in Civil and Engineering in Water Resources Planning and Management from Colorado State University. He hopes to someday sail the Mediterranean.
Marcelo Vedovatto
Marcelo grew up in Southern Brazil on a dairy farm. Marcelo is working with his advisors, Jana Kraft, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, and USDA Research Scientists, and , to evaluate the effects of nutrition on rumen microbiota diversity and fatty acid composition and its impacts of milk fatty acid composition. A main focus on Marcelo's work is finding ways to increase the concentration of bioactive fatty acids, such as branch chain fatty acids, that have health-promoting capabilities in milk. Marcelo obtained his PhD in Animal and Ruminant Nutrition from Mato Grosso do Sul Federal University. Marcelo loves wild animals and is currently working with farmers in Brazil to reduce jaguar attacks on calves, while ensuring protection for the jaguars.
Hafedh Ben Zaabza
Hafedh was born and raised in Tunisia. He is working with Stephanie McKay, Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, and , USDA Research Scientist. His research is focused on generating genetic merit predictions using existing data from infra-red spectroscopy data of milk components as well as integrating high-throughput phenotyping and genotyping data to enable genomic selection for economically important traits in dairy cattle. Their goal is to develop methods and generate data that can help dairy farmers make decisions informed by the genomic selection data. Hafedh obtained his PhD in Quantitative Genetics from Carthage University. Hafedh loves to read and his favorite book is the The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
