B.Sc. in Agribusiness and Chemical Engineering, Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. M.Sc. in Plant Breeding and Genetic Resource Management, Wageningen University (The Netherlands). PhD. in Plant Molecular Biology at the renowned

Utrecht University (The Netherlands). After starting his career in flower fields in his native country, he became a researcher at Leiden University (The Netherlands), Gent University (Belgium) and Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador). Today he teaches at the Faculty of Agronomy at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where he lectures on Biotechnology, Plant Physiology, Floriculture, Post-harvest Management and Plant Immunology. He has participated as a lecturer at conferences such as the APS (American Phytopathological Society) in the USA, and other conferences in Scotland, Australia, China, Holland, Germany, Ecuador, Belgium, England, among others. He has published in numerous high impact factor international journals such as Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, Nature Chemical Biology, Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, MPMI, Planta, Plant Science, Scientific Reports, etc. His lines of research are the strengthening of the plant immune system through the use of resistance inducers and adequate mineral nutrition to enhance plant self-defence. 

Lecture title:

“Inducción de resistencia vegetal usando elicitores: del fundamento a la práctica“