Manoella has worked at WTFRC since 2009, when she started as an intern. She is currently a Research Operations Manager responsible for quality data analysis and field operations, which includes supervising and training personnel regarding storage, laboratory procedures, and field evaluations. She is also PI and Co-PI of several research projects related to fruit quality, postharvest, and food safety.
Mano was born in Itabuna, Bahia, but grew up in Una, Bahia, on the beautiful Northeast side of Brazil, close to the coast and to the Atlantic Rainforest.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness Management from Viçosa Federal University (Brazil) and a master’s in Agriculture Food Science and Management from WSU. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in horticulture, focusing on postharvest.
Before joining the Commission, she worked at a tropical fruit research organization focusing on fruit industry diversification, an environmental institute focusing on family farming, and a consulting firm where she developed grant proposals for start-ups.
Mano has three brothers, who still live with her parents in Brazil. She is married and has one daughter, Bella, and a son, Lucas.
When not working, Mano enjoys playing with her kids, reading, dancing, running, hiking, and watching most team sports. Her favorites are futebol (soccer), American football, and hockey.
