Erika Saalau Rojas

Erika S. Rojas started her career in agriculture in her home country, Costa Rica. While getting her bachelor’s degree in plant sciences at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) she found her passion in plant pathology and extension work. After completing her degree at UCR, Erika worked on cucurbit bacterial wilt and obtained her PhD in plant pathology from Iowa State University, where she also worked as the plant diagnostician in Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic.

Now, Erika is the senior agricultural scientist for Ocean Spray in Massachusetts. Her job is to help cranberry growers in all their production practices by giving advice, diagnosing plant health issues and carrying out field applied research. Before this role, Erika was an assistant professor at the UMass Cranberry Station in charge of the plant pathology research and extension program.