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Out standing in the field

🇺🇸 Madison, WI & 🇨🇷 Sarchí, Costa Rica

-Originally from Costa Rica. Tico de Corazon. LinkedIn | GitHub | Publications

About Andrey

I am a plant breeder and geneticist passionate about building food systems through science and innovation. My work spans crops like beet, carrot, onion, tomato, pepper, and coffee, with a focus on integrating molecular tools, phenotypic data, and farmer-centered practical approaches. I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I lead R&D efforts for root vegetable breeding and genetics.

I am also super interested in agribusiness, entrepreneurship and poetry. I am originally from Costa Rica and my favority music genera is reggaeton but I also like classical performance specially Beethoven’s 9th by my beloved Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Mutti

Education

PhD, Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics
University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2023

MS, Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics
University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2020

Licentiate, Agronomy Engineering
Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC) — 2018

Experience

Plant Breeding Research Associate

University of Wisconsin–Madison | Sep 2023 – Present

  • Led development of improved beet germplasm now used globally.
  • Integrated genetic, molecular, and field data to support trait discovery.
  • Managed field trials for onion, carrot, and beet across seasons.

Plant Breeding Research Assistant

University of Wisconsin–Madison | May 2018 – Aug 2023

  • Supported breeding of tomato, pepper, and bean lines for global impact.
  • Collaborated with TEC (Costa Rica), Zamorano (Honduras), and USAID.
  • Analyzed genomic and phenotypic data and co-authored peer-reviewed publications.

Coffee Consultant & Farm Manager

Sarchí, Costa Rica | 2013 – Present

  • Managed high-altitude Arabica production (2013–2018).
  • Provided consulting on climate resilience, nutrition, and marketing.
  • Grew up in a multi-generation coffee farming family.
  • Picked up and harvested the coffee myself for quite a while

Some Awards

  • Science Communication Award, Wisconsin Initiative for Scientific Literacy (2024)
  • Best Research in Plant Breeding, PCCMCA, Costa Rica (2024)
  • Young Minds Award, ISHS, United Kingdom (2023)

Languages

  • Spanish & English (Native proficiency)
  • Italian (Intermediate A2, MCER)

Projects

Check out my projects and packages on GitHub, including:

  • geneticMapR: Tools for linkage mapping and haplotype visualization in R
  • Ongoing research in GWAS, table beet genetics, crop diversity, and science communication

Contact

Feel free to reach out via email (vega.andrey@gmail.com) or LinkedIn for collaboration opportunities, consulting, or a good chat about seeds, science, and storytelling.

My headshot

“Local roots, global fruits.”
A vision for plant breeding that connects tradition, science, and the future