Dr Maria Rosario Mosqueda | Phillippines

Alongside her current role as Dean of the College of Agriculture, Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Philippines,  Maria teaches postharvest handling, storage and food engineering.

She is passionate about strengthening the research culture at her institution, leading projects and extension activities while encouraging the involvement of her College of Agriculture colleagues.

Maria is particularly focused upon making a contribution towards strengthening the sustainability of smallholder vegetable supply chains in Northern Mindanao and has obtained funding for several research and extension projects in the area.

Maria obtained her PhD in Biological Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Under the auspices of the Fulbright-Philippine Agriculture Scholarship Program, she obtained her MS Agricultural Engineering degree from the University of Georgia, USA. With the support of an AusAID Scholarship, Maria completed a Master of Engineering (Quality Management) at RMIT University, Australia. Her Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering was obtained at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, where she now works.

In her early career, Maria served as a planning analyst of RFM Corporation – Agribusiness Division in its Mindanao poultry operations.  This role introduced her to the importance of agribusiness value chains, systems thinking, and quality management and set her on her current path.

Maria loves to read and to travel. She hopes the pandemic will soon end so that she may resume exploring the world both within and outside of the Philippines.