ABOUT
Lucas obtained his Bachelor’s in Biotechnology (2015) and a Master’s in Biosciences (2017) from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, and defended his Ph.D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics at the University of Guelph (2022).
As part of numerous research projects during his undergraduate studies, he acquired experience in genetic polymorphisms, molecular biology, fermentative processes, bioprospection of microorganisms, and the production and purification of industrial enzymes. He was an exchange student at the University of Toronto, Canada (2013), where he improved his skills in molecular biology and enzymology while studying the physico-chemical and biological degradation of pine tree bark by different fungi species for bioethanol production.
As a master’s student, he decided to understand the role of different bacteria from the rumen in the degradation of plant cell-wall through metagenomic and bioinformatics analysis to target species with the potential to produce enzymes of industrial interest.
His passion for research and new challenges brought him to the pretigious Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock at the University of Guelph, Canada, to pursue a Ph.D. in Animal Breeding and Genetics and major in Computational Aspects of Animal Breeding. Under the advisement of Dr. Flavio Schenkel and Dr. Christine Baes, he applied machine learning algorithms to improve breeding programs in the dairy industry.
Lucas currently works as Research Centre Data Manager at the University of Guelph, where he is responsible for the design, development and implementation of a modern data enterprise architecture for the Research Centres operated and managed by the University of Guelph through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.
Over the past years, he has specialized in research data integration supporting individual researchers, research labs, and organizations through private consultations. His technical expertise extends from deploying and managing customized systems, to implementing automated data ETL pipelines across multiple on-site and remote sources, to building beautiful functional user interfaces for easy and secure research data access.