I was born on July 22, 1985, in Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica. In 2007, I graduated as an engineer in Biotechnology at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica. In the year 2006, I started working at CATIE as an intern and began my research in Moniliophthora Pod Rot of cacao, specifically in conservation methods of the pathogen’s genetic diversity. From 2007 to 2009, I was in charge of the plant pathology area of CATIE´s Cacao Genetic Improvement Program. In 2011, I obtained my M.Sc. degree in Ecological Agriculture from CATIE, studying the epidemiology of Moniliophthora roreri. Once I completed her master’s program, I joined CATIE’s doctoral program in Ecological Agriculture with the collaboration of Pennsylvania State University and sponsored by CIRAD, France. After completing my doctoral studies, I joined CATIE`s Cacao Genetic Improvement Program as a consultant. This consultancy was carried out in collaboration with the Pennsylvania State University under the framework of a project funded by the National Science Foundation that studied the immune system of cocoa. During my consultancy I also gave support to this program in the area of phytopathology. In April 2019, I joined the CATIE`s Cacao Technical Team, as a specialist in crop pests and diseases.
I have studied the biology and epidemiology of pathogens in order to highlight key moments to construct more efficient IPM strategies.
Fister, AS; Leandro-Muñoz, ME; Zhang, D; Marden, JH; Tiffin, P; dePamphilis, C; Maximova, S; Guiltinan, MJ. 2020. Widely distributed variation in tolerance to Phytophthora palmivora in four genetic groups of cacao Tree genetics & genomes 16(1):1.
Leandro-Muñoz, ME; Tixier, P; Germon, A; Rakotobe, V; Phillips-Mora, W; Maximova, S; Avelino, J. 2017. Effects of microclimatic variables on the symptoms and signs onset of Moniliophthora roreri, causal agent of Moniliophthora pod rot in cacao PLoS One 12(10):e0184638. Disponible en doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184638 doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0184638
Phillips, W; Castillo, J; Arciniegas, A; Mata, A; Sánchez, A; Leandro, M; Astorga, C; Motamayor, J; Guyton, B; Seguine, E. 2009. Overcoming the main limiting factors of cacao production in Central America through the use of improved clones developed at CATIE. In. Proceedings of the 16th International cocoa research conference. COPAL Nigeria Bali. p. 93-99.