K (Késia) Silva Lourenço

Dr. Késia Silva Lourenço is an agronomist (UDESC), with a Master's (UDESC) and PhD (IAC and Leiden University, Netherlands) degree and she has been working in the area of environmental sustainability since graduation. The focus of her work is the sustainable reuse of different agro-industrial residues in agriculture, as well as the assessment of their environmental impacts. Késia started her career in 2006, at the University of Santa Catarina (UDESC). During her graduation she obtained a scientific initiation scholarship (CNPq) and received the 1st place award in the Agronomy Course 2010/second semester. During her master's degree she evaluated the efficiency of using poultry litter as a fertilizer and the efficiency of urease inhibitors in reducing N losses through ammonia volatilization. In 2013, she started her doctorate at the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), where she evaluated different management strategies to reduce the negative effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the combined application of nitrogen fertilizers and vinasse. Késia researched practical and simple strategies, such as separating the application of mineral N and vinasse in time and the use of nitrification inhibitors, which may eventually be used in RenovaBio (National Biofuel Policy). In addition to the studies carried out in the field in Brazil, Késia carried out, as part of her doctorate, basic studies on the microbiological processes involved on the emission of GHG at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) in Wageningen. At NIOO, she assessed the impact of vinasse on the soil microbial community and investigated the microbial pathways responsible for the N2O production. This is an emerging area of science and can, again, produce innovative results. In addition to the thesis that Késia defended at the IAC, she wrote a second thesis and obtained another doctoral degree at the University of Leiden/The Netherland. Currently, Késia continues the studies that she started at the doctorate, with a broader focus, linking agricultural production and environmental sustainability.