Valentina Ramirez is an undergraduate student studying Biology at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Valentina serves as the president of the Synthetic Biology Club at her University, and maintains a strong commitment to service, cultivating skills she considers essential to inspiring young Ecuadorians towards scientific endeavors. Valentina strongly believes that simplifying scientific topics and messages for society not only fosters acceptance and understanding, but also encourages more young individuals to engage in research. This, in turn, enhances the significance of state funding for development, research, and innovation in policy making, propelling progress in the region.
For her outreach project, Valentina organized and hosted a series of online workshops and mock debates focused on GMO’s in Latin America. Day 1 of her series featured presentations from PhD students and experts (below) on the topic of genetic modification techniques. Valentina noted that “the presentation by Melania Vega (left), a Ph.D. student from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, was particularly interesting. During her presentation, she explained her laboratory’s studies on how genetic crossbreeding between transgenic and wild crops significantly impacts the loss of agrobiodiversity in Latin American countries, which are primarily centers of origin and domestication of agricultural crops.”
Day 2 of the series was a debate session, during which opposing sides argued for or against the use of GMOs, using the UN debate model. This series of workshops worked to inform communities about the risks and benefits of GMOs, as well as the arguments for and against promoting these technologies in our countries, all while developing the communication skills of young scientists regarding the landscape of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Latin America. The workshop series hosted 51 participants from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Bolivia.
