Adrian Ares named program director for international agriculture program
Adrian Ares has been named program director of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program, a five-year, $15 million venture managed by Virginia Tech’s Office of International Research, Education, and Development. He will begin his new position July 6.
Ares comes to Virginia Tech from Oregon State University, where he is a faculty research associate in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society.
Ares has more than 25 years of cross-disciplinary experience in agriculture, forestry, and related topics, and has worked for universities, private industry, and federal programs. He has designed and conducted research in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, and the continental United States. His research work has yielded more than 70 publications in scholarly journals and proceedings of meetings, as well as numerous technical and outreach presentations.
"I believe Adrian Ares, with his strong research background, will provide excellent programmatic leadership in our conservation agriculture program,” said S.K. De Datta, associate vice president for Virginia Tech’s Office of International Affairs and director of the Office of International Research, Education, and Development.
“I am elated to join the highly renowned international program at Virginia Tech,” said Ares. “The position fulfills my longstanding interest in biophysical and social dimensions of sustainable agriculture and natural resources management that are key to achieving food security, protecting the environment, and elevating human dignity worldwide.”
Ares holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry engineering from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Aregentina and a master’s degree in soil science from the and the Universidad Nacional del Sur, also in Argentina, his country of birth. He completed his Ph.D. in agronomy and soil science with a minor in botany from the University of Hawaii.
The Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
