Hi everyone, my name is Alejandro!

I’m from Colombia, the country located in the north-west corner of South America. Many people confuse Colombia with Columbia, which is another country completely different (just kidding! Columbia is not a country). Something exciting about my tropical country is that it is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse in the world. Also, our biological diversity is HUGE, being the second most diverse country in the world.

I grew up in Medellin, also known as the “city of eternal spring,” which is located within one of the three country’s mountains range: the central one. The mountainous geography of this region creates a great diversity of environments which allow us to grow numerous agricultural products; From pineapple, cacao, and bananas in the low altitude lands, to coffee, flowers, and potatoes in the mountains.

I studied Agronomist Engineer because I love rural areas; they are full of kind people, nature’s sound is lovely, and the sunsets are amazing. During the last semester of my bachelor’s degree, I got involved with the cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) sector while I did my internship in a Colombian chocolate company (Compania Nacional de Chocolates). Many of my friends thought that I was doing my internship in a chocolate factory like Willy Wonka’s one, but no. I was working on a fantastic cacao farm, in the Magdalena River Valley. I had the fortune of being hired by this company; my work was to provide training to cacao producers and to do research on diverse agronomical topics. This is what I did just before coming to Penn State.

Now I’m in my fourth and last semester of the Agricultural and Extension Education (AEE) Master of Science program. I'm in the framework of the program Cacao for Peace. My research focuses on the evaluation of a Colombian project which seeks to improve the life’s conditions of small farmers through the establishment of cacao crops. I evaluate the outcomes of this developmental effort, with the final goal of providing useful feedback to the project’s coordinators.

I love learning, and I also feel passionate about conveying what I know. This is why I’m so happy about participating in this great course.