Carolina Pratas Glycerio de Freitas is a graduate research assistant working towards her PhD in Crop Production and Physiology at ISU under advising professor and ISRC faculty research affiliate Sotirios Archontoulis, agronomy. Freitas joined the Archontoulis Lab in May of 2023 to pursue her graduate studies and to work on the continuous soybean project funded by the ISRC, which has now gone on to receive additional funding from the Iowa Soybean Association.
Originally from Brazil, her interest in cropping systems came from growing up on a family-operated dairy farm that grows corn and soybeans. “The environment in our region can be challenging, so I grew up watching my father trying new practices, products, rotations, etc., to optimize our operation. I always enjoyed seeing and participating in it, so I decided to pursue it as a career,” said Freitas.
Prior to coming to ISU, she earned her undergraduate degree in agronomy from Michigan State University. “They offered me a good scholarship, and I wanted the opportunity to learn a new language and to see how research was done and communicated in the U.S. I was intrigued to learn about a different part of the world,” said Freitas.
While at Michigan State she worked on developing quick assays and scales to assess alfalfa autotoxicity levels in grower’s fields. Later, she worked on canopy traits of maize and sorghum to create predictive models and aided in simulation-based crop models like APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator). Through this project, she came across Dr. Archontoulis’ work and sought opportunities with his lab.
“I have learned many technical skills while working on the continuous soy project in the Archontoulis Lab,” said Freitas. “I have flown drones and analyzed the data collected. I have used many types of sensors to measure things. Each tool requires learning a new skill set. I also learned the importance of testing the same concept across many locations and years to strengthen conclusions; many of Dr. Archontoulis’ projects are large scale and cover multiple regions.”
Freitas assists on a variety of projects in addition to her own and enjoys helping with data collection in a variety of areas. “It is a good way to learn new techniques, about other crops, and work with my teammates,” said Freitas. Outside of the lab, she has enjoyed being involved in the Agronomy Graduate Student Club, serving as seminar co-chair and then president.
“I have absolutely loved my time at ISU, in the Archontoulis Lab, and being involved with ISRC. Of course I have learned a lot of science, but through the ISRC, I also had the chance to be involved in many field days, talk to farmers, participate in research/industry update meetings, create partnerships to bring seminar speakers and meet a lot of cool supporting people. All that has allowed me to develop as a researcher while working on other skills,” said Freitas.
With plans to graduate with her PhD in Crop Production and Physiology from Iowa State in Spring of 2027, Freitas said, “I would love to be in a career that helps enable research while still being connected to farmers somehow,” said Freitas.
