Julio César Santin (’98, Brazil)
With his EARTH degree in hand, Julio returned to Guarantã do Norte in Mato Grosso, Brazil to do his part in building a better world.
He has dedicated his career to promoting sustainable practices among small-scale, rural farmers, focusing primarily on forestry management to generate income streams and restore forests. Today, he leads four silviculture technology development teams for a project with the government-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), and is responsible for coordinating technical assistance for all of the silviculture plantations in the region.
With data accumulated throughout his career, he has been able to publish technical pieces on the sustainable use of natural resources, specifically, on alternative techniques to the use of fire in the Amazon. As a result of these publications, he was brought on as a technical consultant for the Amazon Without Fire Project, a multinational initiative financed by the Brazilian Government, Italian Cooperation Agency, and the Development Bank of Latin America.
Julio is also a university professor and coordinates a course on technology in agribusiness. For the last eight years he has also created a weekly radio show called Rural Saturday, providing technical information to producers in the region. On top of all of this, in 2016 he will complete a masters in agronomy with a focus on silviculture.
“I believe that if everyone does their part we can achieve more sustainable production systems, which produce food to sustain us while preserving the environment for future generations. Every day in my work I try to plant a small seed, as I am sure that many of them will germinate and later produce good fruit.”
He feels a deep gratitude for the scholarship he received from the Kellogg Foundation to attend EARTH, without which he would not have had the same opportunities.
“The professional and personal preparation that EARTH gave me has opened practically every door that I have been able to enter during my adult life.”
And in return, he adds, EARTH graduates are building a more caring, just and perfect humanity.
“At EARTH, we learn much more than technical knowledge, we learn how to be agents of change, we learn about different cultures; EARTH prepares us for the world, as professionals and as people.”
