Dr.Juli-Anne Russo MakingWaves!

Dr. Juli-Anne Royes Russo, born in KingstonJamaica, attended Immaculate Conception Prep and High School and later the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. After graduating with a BS in Chemistry and a minor in Zoology from the Department of Life Sciences, Juli-Anne worked with the Ministry of Agriculture Bodles Research Station as a Livestock Research Officer and conducted nutrition studies to enhance the milk production of the Jamaica Hope dairy cattle. While at Bodles. She was awarded an USAID scholarship to pursue her Masters of Science in Animal Nutrition at the University of Florida.

After graduating, she returned to Jamaica and worked on one of Jamaica’s only marine shrimp hatchery, and as a Farm manager on one of the largest ornamental fish farms in Jamaica. She returned to the University of Florida and was awarded a full Graduate Fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences where she specialized in diseases and nutritional management for fish. For her post-doctoral studies, she was awarded a three-year Research fellowship at Hubbs Sea World Research Institute in San Diego California. There she had the opportunity to conduct research at the only research facility in the USA for marine fish culture and stock enhancement and participate in aquaculture activities as an Aquatic Animal Nutritionist, at SeaWorld, San Diego, Birch Aquarium and Scripps Oceanographic Institute in La Jolla.

One of the highlights of her career was as a Senior Scientist at one of the largest pet food companies in the USA where for 5 years she created and managed from innovation to market over 40 products with several skus for the aquarium market.

Dr. Royes Russo’s career has encompassed government, academia, the food industry and entrepreneurship. She has worked to improve the nutritional and health status of beef & dairy cattle; small companion animals; freshwater, marine, aquarium and food fish. Now, as an aquaculture consultant, she has provided her expertise to NGOs such as USAID and IDB developing workshops and training fish farmers in Jamaica, Zambia and Nepal to improve the nutritional and health status of their fish. More recently, she was an Aquaculture Biosecurity consultant at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy.

With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Royes Russo recently formed the Caribbean Aquaculture Network, which aims to form a community of aquaculturists who will share knowledge, inspire and motivate the cultivation of aquatic organisms in the Caribbean. Dr. Russo hopes to see more youth and women involved in the field of aquaculture with the formation of Women in Caribbean Aquaculture (WiCA) within the network. The Network hosts Caribbean Scientists who give presentations on their field of expertise, interview aquaculture students, and will be creating technical workshops for farmers.

Her interests are in food and nutrition security, women in aquaculture, aquaculture biosecurity, environmental sustainability and rural development.