Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is structured around gateways that cross disciplines and encompass a broad scope. These gateways bring together faculty based on their strengths and expertise to find solutions to complex issues. The UT Energy and Environment Gateway is bringing our faculty together with scientists from across the globe to address critical challenges facing our planet, such as how to effectively feed the world’s growing population while restoring the planetary resources on which we all depend. Partnerships between UT and Brazilian institutions are a great vehicle to bring scientists together to tackle these grand challenges. Under an Energy and Environment Gateway project, the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture is leading a UT team to grow these partnerships.
“Tennessee and Brazil share many interests in agriculture, natural resources, and energy with both being central pillars of the global food system. We grow many of the same crops and raise similar livestock, and both rely on hydropower for part of our energy,” Hongwei Xin, dean of UT AgResearch at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, explains. “These similarities can drive competition in areas like soybean exports, but they also create opportunities to learn from each other. Global research collaborations like this are important because they bring together complementary expertise, expand resources and perspectives, and speed up progress in tackling shared challenges.”
UTIA faculty have had many individual engagements with Brazil that laid the foundation for this collaboration. “Over ten years ago, UTIA delegations developed initial partnerships with institutions in São Paulo and Manaus,” says Tom Gill, professor and director of the Smith Center, describing the origins of the project. “These have led to some individual collaborations and have grown further with the hiring of three Brazilian faculty in the Departments of Plant Sciences and Animal Science— Renata Oakes, Bruno Pedreira, and Saulo Zoca—who have all brought Brazilian exchange students to Knoxville and the Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center over the past few years.”
This project is convening complementary research expertise from the US and Brazil at UT. “Since I was hired at UTIA, our leadership has encouraged me to strengthen relationships with Brazilian institutions. We already have some colleagues working together, but Brazil and Tennessee have a lot in common,” says Bruno Pedreira, UT Extension forage specialist and associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. “There is still much that can be accomplished through collaboration, and this partnership has strong potential to support growth in sustainable agriculture for both regions.” Pedreira is also director of the UT Beef and Forage Center and coordinator of the Tennessee Master Forage Program.
A 2025 visit by a UTIA delegation to Brazil identified shared research interests related to energy and the environment between UT and various institutions in Minas Gerais and Sao Paolo states. The connections made through that trip led to an online seminar series held in fall 2025 and early spring 2026 that introduced researchers from UT and major research institutions in Brazil, including the University of São Paulo, the Federal University of Lavras, and the national agricultural research institution, Embrapa. The Smith Center then built on that momentum by hosting a visit of ten Brazilian scientists from five different Brazilian institutions to Knoxville in April 2026.
The one-week visit by ten Brazilian scientists to Tennessee included a one-day workshop, a field visit to UT AgResearch and Education Centers across the state, and time with individual faculty hosts. The workshop was organized around shared interests related to precision cropping systems, sustainable livestock systems and circular bio-economies, and One Health, natural resource conservation, and biodiversity. The shared time between Brazilian scientists and UT faculty built on existing connections to Brazil and was co-hosted by two UT centers—the Beef and Forage Center and the Smith Center—and engaged faculty from the College of Veterinary Medicine and the departments of animal science, plant sciences, and biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology.
“We were fortunate to have the opportunity to host this group of Brazilian scientists on campus. The delegation represented a range of disciplines and institutions across Brazil. There was something of interest for faculty and students from many departments across UT,” Hans Goertz, assistant director of project development with the Smith Center, says about the success of the workshop. “Our guests brought fresh perspectives and ideas for addressing the grand challenge of feeding a growing population while conserving our critical resources.”
Elaine Maria Dorneles, a veterinarian at the Federal University of Lavras, participated in the workshop and was hosted by the UT One Health Initiative. Dorneles emphasizes how much stronger this partnership stands to make both Tennessee and Brazil. “I think the most valuable thing is that we can learn from each other. We bring different experiences, different ways of doing things, and different ways of thinking, especially when it comes to how we raise questions,” she says. “By combining the best from each side, I’m confident we’ll build stronger solutions together. When we work as one team, we can advance our shared knowledge and create something meaningful.”
Partnerships like these are important because they provide opportunities for UTIA faculty to enrich their teaching, research, and Extension programming by submitting joint proposals and creating exchange opportunities for students, staff, and faculty for experiential learning. “These additional opportunities allow faculty to diversify their funding sources and grow the visibility and networks for their programs,” Gill explains. “They raise the visibility and hence the recognition of UT as a leader among US land-grants in global engagement.”
Impacts of this project can already be seen in the ways it has strengthened connections between UT and Brazilian institutions. “We have increased collaboration among faculty and created new opportunities for student exchange,” says Pedreira. “These initial efforts are building a strong foundation for long-term relationships in research, education, and Extension.”
Pedreira sums up his hopes for what comes next: “By joining efforts, Brazilian institutions and UT can leverage broader international resources to build larger research programs, advance science, expand student exchange, and contribute to feeding a growing global population. I hope we will continue working together to develop new strategies and technologies that will help define the future of agriculture in Tennessee and beyond.”
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