Imtrade CropScience recently employed Lina Avila, a passionate industrial microbiologist who grew up in an agricultural region of Colombia, surrounded by rice and corn crops.
From a young age Lina had firsthand evidence of plants and crops constantly being affected by pests and diseases – resulting in big losses for the farmers, and less food available for the people.
Since then, she was drawn to a career in science, which led to completion of a BSc in Industrial Microbiology at Pontifical Xavierian University (one of Colombia’s top universities), where she learnt about the industrial application of beneficial microorganisms in industry with an application in agricultural systems.
Soon after, Ms Avila began work in a large Colombian agribusiness with a focus on producing biological products for crops, rice seeds and livestock. Here she had the opportunity to assess efficacy and measure the quality of formulations of biological control agents, biofertilisers and biopesticides in the laboratory and in the field.
“I could see evidence of how the using of biological products can have a huge positive impact in nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilisation and in reducing the incidence of pests and diseases for horticultural and broadacre crops,” Ms Avila said.
Driven by internal motivation and passion for learning she made decision to travel to Australia in 2015. Ms Avila said her initial experiences were working in different positions that helped her to perfect her English fluency and equipped here well with a strong set of interpersonal, organisational, and problem-solving skills!
“Without doubt being in a foreign country has taught me discipline, determination, and to be resilient and keep pursuing my dreams,” she said.
Having worked various jobs mainly in the agri-food sector as microbiology analyst, in 2020 Lina decided that was time to explore the Australian agricultural systems, so she enrolled in a Masters of Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
“The time at UoM was everything I hoped it would be, and despite the limitations imposed by COVID, I was able to gain a fantastic understanding of the varied and fascinating research activity being undertaken across the agricultural industry in Australia and overseas,” she said.
“Now that I have finished my degree and have joined the Imtrade CropScience team, I am excited to have the opportunity to work in what I enjoy the most – exploring the usage of microorganisms in agriculture to create sustainable alternatives for crop production.
“My personal values centre on making applied science more available to farmers, improving their understanding about using beneficial soil microorganisms as a lever to support their quest to produce healthy crops in a sustainable way,” Ms Avila said.
Imtrade’s General Manager Neil McPhee said, “Lina will add a new technical competency to our armoury, guiding expansion into the realm of biofertilisers.”
