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Background and Education

Dr. Marcelo Wallau is an assistant professor and Forage Extension Specialist with the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida (70% extension, 30% research). With a background in agronomic engineering and MS degree in Agronomy, and PhD in Animal Sciences, his focus is on forage production systems for livestock and wildlife, and on integrated crop-livestock systems. Coming from a farming background in southern Brazil, Dr. Wallau's interests are in the big picture of the production systems. He is searching for solutions for daily questions from our farmers with a deep scientific base and global perspective. He also has worked on grassland ecology, modeling and foraging behavior, and on feral hog management and control. You can view his Research Gate profile here. 

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Marcelo Osorio Wallau is from Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He grew up on his family ranch close to the border with Uruguay, raising sheep, horses, and beef and dairy cattle. All were raised in pasture-based systems. From early childhood, he learned the principles of cowboying, range management, and respect for nature and for the elders. From his close contact with livestock and grazing, he developed a deep interest in pasture production. He moved out of his hometown in 2004, heading to Porto Alegre after a period in Jÿvaskÿla, Finland for high school. In 2006, Marcelo started his undergraduate degree in the Agronomy Department at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. As scientific initiation, Marcelo worked for three years at the Soil Microbiology Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Enilson Sá. During his undergraduate career, he took internships in south and central Brazil, and in Argentina. In 2009, he went to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX as an exchange student for one year, where he studied and worked in Dr. Vivien Allen’s forage lab.

 Marcelo graduated as an agronomy engineer in August 2011 and shortly after joined the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, FL for his Master of Science degree. In Florida, under the coordination of Dr. Lynn Sollenberger, he worked as Graduate Research Assistant, developing a project on testing limpograss hybrid lines under grazing. As fruit of that and previous work, two of the tested lines are now being planted by Florida’s Cattlemen, benefiting the livestock industry in the region. In 2014, back in Porto Alegre, Marcelo joined the Grazing Ecology Research Group to work on his Ph.D. under the coordination of Dr. Paulo Cesar de Faccio Carvalho, while working on the native grasslands line of research. During his Ph.D., he spent one year at the University of California – Davis, developing the modeling project which was part of his thesis with Dr. Emilio Laca. He also spent one month at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), in Clermont-Ferrand, France, working with Raphël Martin and Dr. Juliette Bloor on the implementation of the model. Being back in Brazil during his PhD studies allowed him to work at the family ranch part time, an activity always loved and missed when abroad.

 

From 2014 to 2017, Marcelo worked as an ambassador for Farmfair International, an event promoted by Northlands, in Edmonton, Canada. He took groups of Southern American producers to visit one of the largest livestock shows in Canada and local producers in Alberta. He also developed a volunteer extension project on feral hog management with the Equipe Javali no Pampa. This project resulted in the publication of a technical book on feral hog biology and control techniques, as well as many extension handouts and scientific publications. Upon finishing his PhD, Marcelo came to the University of Florida as a post-doctoral fellow working for Dr. Esteban Rios. In January 2018, he officially joined the faculty of the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida as Assistant Professor. In the role of Forage Extension Specialist, Marcelo has been helping extension faculty and farmers in the state of Florida by working on forage production and management for beef cattle, dairy cattle and horses, and on integrated crop-livestock systems. His professional goals are to better understand forage-livestock systems around the world and to develop sustainable practices for improving livestock production and agroecosystems from a global, systemic view.

Education

2014-2017

Ph.D. Animal Science

Grassland Ecology and Management Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil (GPA 3.9)

With a period at the University of California, Davis, USA (2015-2016). And at the INRAe UREP, Clermont Ferrand, France (2017). 

2011-2013

M.S. Agronomy 

Forage Production and Management, University of Florida, USA (GPA 3.72). Minor in Animal Sciences, focus on ruminant nutrition. 

2006-2011

Agronomy, Eng.

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. With a period at Texas Tech University, USA (GPA 3.72) (2009-2010).

Awards and Honors

  • 2023 American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC) Merit Award

  • 2023 UF Global Fellow Award

  • 2021 Florida Association of County Agricultural Agents (FACAA) Extension Specialist of the year.

  • 2019 Dallas Townsend Extension Award by UF/IFAS 

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