West Virginia University - Parkersburg - Diversified Agriculture - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV

Rosa Guedes recently was hired as WVU-Parkersburg's new diversified agriculture program coordinator. She began developing curriculum for the program in August. The program begins in the spring.

The new program is intended to train students in skills to meet the demand for locally grown food. The produce grown in the program will be used to help support WVU-Parkersburg's new culinary arts program. 

According to college officials, the program is needed because some 90 percent of the food consumed in West Virginia is raised out of state.

Before coming to the United States, Guedes was an associate professor of ecology at Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in Brazil where she taught agronomy and agriculture education. 

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. In Athens, Guedes helped to organize the school's Study Abroad in Agriculture and Ecology program.

Starting in 2005, Guedes worked for Philadelphia University where she was awarded a Linback Minority Junior Faculty Career Enhancement grant, which was used to work with small-scale farmers. She presented results at an International Union of Soil Sciences meeting in Brisbane, Australia.