Claudia Irene Calderon

Additional international teaching experience: I have also designed and taught a community-based learning course on Sustainable Food Systems in Guatemala, as part of one 100,000 Strong in the Americas Grant. I have strong partnership with Universidad de San Carlos, Universidad Rafael Landivar, and Universidad del Valle in Guatemala. I have been invited from Zamorano University in Honduras to give a workshop on plant breeding techniques.

My research is focused on the intersection of agroecology, sustainability, climatic resilience and one health. I use participatory approaches with a gender lens, that empower small-holder farmers in rural areas to reduce post-harvest losses in grains. See a video we generated to share best practices to reduce exposure to mycotoxin contamination in food and feed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_UP-IwVBo&feature=youtu.be). I am developing a network of doctors, veterinarians, agronomists that can work together to minimize the public health impact that mycotoxins cause in human and animal populations.

I am currently collaborating with other researchers from the Agronomy department on campus to the introgression and fine-mapping of traits associated with nitrogen-fixation from exotic maize landraces into elite materials adapted to the Midwest.