Vitor R.G. Mercadante has been named assistant professor of animal and poultry sciences and Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

He is one of eight faculty members recently hired in the college. New positions were identified to bring talent to its focus areas, including food and health, infectious disease, biodesign and processing, and agricultural profitability and environmental sustainability. The new faculty members are distributed across teaching, research, and Extension.

Mercadante’s research focuses on bovine reproductive physiology, beef cattle management, and reproductive technologies. He received his D.V.M. from from São Paulo State University UNESP-Botucatu in Brazil, and both his master's and doctorate in animal sciences from the University of Florida.

During veterinary school he served as the director of beef production in a beef and dairy consulting enterprise, Conapec Jr, composed of veterinary, agronomy and animal science students from São Paulo State University in Botucatu in Brazil. In addition, during graduate school at the University of Florida, Mercadante was deeply involved with the Department of Animal Science Extension efforts and was an active member of several Extension programs, including the Florida Bull Test, IFAS Reproductive Management School, the AI Cowculator, and the NFREC Beef and Forage Field Day.

Mercadante is the recipient of the 2013 International Stockmen's Educational Foundation Fellowship and the Best Master of Science Thesis in the fall of 2012 and best Ph.D. Dissertation in the fall of 2015, both awarded by the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida.

Written by Amy Loeffler

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