Adenka Muñoz, the UNAMAD student who joined the UTEC-Harvard collaborative project

By: Lucia Solis

She joined the Plants-R-Us project, the result of the fifth edition of the collaborative program between UTEC and Harvard students, thanks to an announcement from the National Amazonian University of Madre de Dios (UNAMAD), located in Puerto Maldonado. Her name is Adenka Muñoz, a forest and environment engineering student who is currently in her last semester of studies.

"I’ve done volunteer work with CINCIA[1] and worked in an environmental laboratory generating water bioindicators in the Madre de Dios region’’, says Adenka, who in May became part of the Plants-R-Us project. Together with the rest of the group, Adenka explored the areas of cocoa and banana cultivation with the use of the device created within this collaborative program.

This initiative can have a large impact in the region. Adenka believes that '' ... this is attractive for those who want to take their own soil samples after receiving training. Many projects fail due to lack of technical assistance; in this case, there will be a follow-up. ''

The final stage is currently being developed in the laboratories of Harvard University, where program participants work on the development of a more advanced analysis device. For Adenka, this project, implemented by the 100k Strong in the Americas fund, from the US Department of State, has allowed her to deepen her knowledge. "Not only have we been able to identify a problem but also work to find a solution. Projects like this make us more competitive as a university". 

[1] Amazon Scientific Research Center