Lorena Simbaña-Carrera, Ms.C

Assistant Researcher

Plant Pathology

Ing. Lorena Simbaña-Carrera obtained a Master in Sciences degree (2016) from de University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Campus (UPRM), and a bachelor of Agronomic Engineering (2012) from the Universidad Central in Ecuador. She is an Assistant Researcher in the Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences in the Crop Protection program. She specializes in the Molecular identification of Phytoplasmas, Fungi, and Bacterias in order to identify unreported microorganisms that affect harvests, crops, and other greenery in Puerto Rico. She began her investigative work in 2013 and focused on palm tree phytoplasmas in order to detect Lethal diseases that attacked these plants. In 2013 she became a teaching assistant in the Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences and she continued teaching until 2016. From 2015 through 2016 she worked on various projects involving long coriander (culantro) and palm tree related bacteria. After graduating in June 2016. She focused on professional development and sharpened her skills through an employment opportunity for a private corporation. Toward the end of 2016, she returned to the University of Puerto Rico in order to pursue her passion for research and joined the ECaFSS project. Upon her arrival, she studied local cases of breakdowns in mint, epidemics in pineapple, toxins in coffee, and unreported illness in musaceas. She is currently guiding undergraduate students with their researches. She hopes to one day be able to assist with research related to her home country, in order to help develop an interest in research as a way to promote agriculture.