Miguel Romero

I am a Doctoral Student in Crop Production Science at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), working for the Alliance between Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture -CIAT, with over 15 years of experience in the formulation and implementation of projects addressing the environmental impacts of diverse land uses in Latin America. My research focuses on sustainable agricultural practices, greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, and the quantification of water and carbon footprints within the framework of life cycle assessment.

At SLU, my doctoral research examines the contribution of sustainable farm-level practices to reducing the carbon footprint of the cocoa value chain in Colombia. I am passionate about bridging science and practice to support climate-resilient, low-emission agriculture in tropical regions.

My research focuses on the assessment and mitigation of environmental impacts in tropical agricultural systems, with an emphasis on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon and water footprints, and sustainable land-use strategies. I have extensive experience applying life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate sustainability in value chains such as cocoa, rice, livestock, oil palm, and other crops across Latin America.

I have contributed to the development of Tier 2 GHG emission factors for cocoa and livestock systems, analyzed the mitigation potential of silvopastoral systems, and designed strategies to reduce deforestation while enhancing agricultural productivity. My work spans research, policy engagement, and capacity building, integrating field data, environmental modeling, and stakeholder collaboration to support low-emission, climate-resilient agricultural landscapes.

Specialized in assessing environmental impacts of tropical agricultural systems through GHG emission quantification, carbon and water footprint evaluation, and life cycle assessment (LCA). Experienced in designing and implementing low-emission, sustainable land-use strategies in collaboration with public and private sectors.

• Lecturer, University of Amazon, Colombia (2017–2018): Taught the course Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems to Master’s students in Sustainable Production Systems.
• Assistant Professor, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, to Bachelor's students in Plant Physology.

• PhD (ongoing) – Crop Production Science, Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden. Doctoral Project: Contribution of sustainable agricultural practices at the farm level to reduce the carbon footprint of the cocoa value chain in Colombia. (2020 – present)
• MSc in Agricultural Sciences – Emphasis in Crop Physiology, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Master’s Thesis: Physiological behavior of avocado (Persea americana Mill) var. Lorena in the Mariquita, Tolima region. (2012)
• BSc in Agronomy – Academic specialization in Tropical Perennial Crops and Plant Physiology, National University of Colombia. Undergraduate Thesis: Relationship between nutrition, growth, and development of banana (Musa AAA Simmonds). (2008)

• Charry, A.; Perea, C.; Ramírez, K.; Zambrano, G.; Yovera, F.; Santos, A.; Jimenez, T.; Romero, M.; Lundy, M.; Quintero, M.; Pulleman, M. (2024) The bittersweet economics of different cacao production systems in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Agricultural Systems 224: 104235. ISSN: 0308-521X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104235
• Erwan Sachet, Ole Mertz, Martha Vanegas, Gisella S. Cruz-Garcia, Marcela Beltran, Yimi Katherine Angel-Sanchez, Yuly Catalina Zapata, Patrick Lavelle, Antonio Solarte, Juan Carlos Suarez, Faver Alvarez, Miguel Romero, Adrian Rico, Leidi Sierra & Marcela Quintero (2023) Codesigning sustainable land uses: framing participatory methods for research and development projects, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 47:3, 413-440, https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2022.2164638
• Perez Marulanda, Lisset and Rudbeck Jepsen, Martin and Löhr, Katharina and Morales, Héctor and Quintero, Marcela and Romero, Miguel and Castro-Nunez, Augusto, A Novel Framework for Measuring Peacebuilding Co-Benefits from Sustainable Production Systems in Conflict-Affected Areas. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4333939 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4333939
• Kinneen, Lois; Escobar Tello, Maria Paula; Hernandez, Luis Miguel; Thompson, Jill; Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany; Córdoba-Suarez, Eric; Romero-Sanchez, Miguel; Barnes, Andrew; Quintero, Marcela; Garratt, Michael (2023). Silvopastoral systems benefit invertebrate biodiversity on tropical livestock farms in Caquetá, Colombia. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12594
• Rivera J, Chara J, Villegas G, Durango S, Verchot L, Romero M, and Chara J. (2022). Effect of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray intake on in vivo methane (CH4) emission and milk production in dual-purpose cows in the Colombian Amazonian piedmont. Translational Animal Science, Volume 6, Issue 4, October 2022, txac139, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac139.
• Del Río Duque ML, Rodríguez T, Pérez Lora AP, Löhr K, Romero M, Castro-Nunez A, Stefan Sieber S, and Bonatti M. (2022). Understanding systemic land use dynamics in conflict-affected territories: The cases of Cesar and Caquetá, Colombia. PLoS ONE 17(5). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269088.
• Rodriguez L, Suárez J, Pulleman M, Guaca L, Rico A, Romero M, Quintero M, and Lavelle P. (2021). Agroforestry systems in the Colombian Amazon improve the provision of soil ecosystem services. Applied Soil Ecology. Volume 164, 2021, 103933, ISSN 0929-1393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.103933
• Castro-Nunez A, Buriticá A, Gonzalez C, Villarino E, Holmann F, Perez L, Del Río M, Sandoval D, Eufemia L, Löhr K, Durango S, Romero M, Lana M, Sotelo S, Rivera O, Loboguerrero A, and Quintero M. (2021). The risk of unintended deforestation from scaling sustainable livestock production systems. Conservation Science and Practice, 3 (9), e495. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.495.
• Sylvester J, Valencia J, Verchot L, Chirinda N, Romero M, Quintero M, and Castro-Nuñez A. (2020). A rapid approach for informing the prioritization of degraded agricultural lands for ecological recovery: A case study for Colombia. Journal for Nature Conservation, Volume 58, 2020, 125921, ISSN 1617-1381, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125921.
• Pérez Marulanda L, Lavelle P, Rudbeck M, Castro-Nunez A, Francesconi W, Camilo K, Vanegas-Cubillos M, Romero M, Suárez J, Solarte A, and Quintero M. (2020). Farmscape Composition and Livelihood Sustainability in Deforested Landscapes of Colombian Amazonia. Agriculture 10, no. 12: 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10120588.
• Duran-Bautista E Armbrecht I, Acioli A, Suárez J, Romero M, Quintero M, and Lavelle P. (2020). Termites as indicators of soil ecosystem services in transformed amazon landscapes. Ecological Indicators 114 (2020) 106550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106550. 
• Landholm D, Pradhan P, Wegmann P, Romero M, Suárez J, and Kropp J. (2019). Reducing deforestation and improving livestock productivity: greenhouse gas mitigation potential of silvopastoral systems in Caquetá. Environ. Res. Lett. 14 (2019) 114007. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3db6.
• Nkurunziza l, Chirinda N, Lana M, Sommer R, Karanja S, Rao I, Romero M, Kuyak S, Quintero M, Lewu F, Joel A, Nyamadzawo G, and Smucker A. (2019). The potential benefits and trade-offs of using sub-surface water retention technology on coarse-textured soils: Impacts of water and nutrient saving on maize production and soil carbon sequestration. Front. Sustain. Food Syst., 06 September 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00071.   

• Romero M., Durango S., Verchot L. (2024). Capacity building for national greenhouse gas inventories: quantification of Tier 2 emission factors in rice, cattle, and poultry systems in Colombia. International Research Symposium on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation – From Research to Implementation, Berlin, Germany, October 21–24, 2024.
• Romero M., Lana M., Castro A., Quintero M. (2023). Effectiveness of cocoa cropping systems to reduce deforestation in Colombia in post-conflict areas. Tropentag Conference, September 20–22, 2023, Hybrid format.
• Romero M., Castro A., Quintero M., Lana M. (2022). Best management practices in sustainable land-use systems to reduce GHG emissions of cocoa production in Colombia. 58th Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), July 10–14, 2022.
• Romero M., Quintero M. (2022). Silvopastoral systems: contributions to the environment and local livelihoods in the Colombian Amazon. 58th Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), July 10–14, 2022.