Victor Barrera

Dr. Victor Barrera has worked in various capacities with Ecuador’s Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) since 1989.  Originally trained as an agricultural engineer, he finished his Ph.D. at the Madrid Polytechnic University (Madrid, Spain) in agricultural project management and impact assessment. He has led a number of important research efforts such as farmer training in integrated pest management, conservation agriculture and soil and water quality, and value chains for various agricultural projects.  He was director of the Austral Experiment Station (INIAP), research director for INIAP, and is now head of projects and agricultural economics at INIAP headquarters.

Dr. Barrera has collaborated with Virginia Tech since the mid-1990s and has served as site chair for several Virginia Tech-led projects. These include the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Project (IPM-CRSP), which he led from 1998-2014, and the Sustainable Agriculture CRSP (SANREM CRSP), 2006-2014.  He has published numerous papers with Virginia Tech faculty and has facilitated numerous student interactions, including intellectual and logistical support for more than 15 Virginia Tech graduate students, and logistical and technical support to a long-standing student research program (2007-present).  In addition to these, he has led projects supported by the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, several CGIAR centers, various US, European and Latin American Universities, among others.