Dr. Barbara Nogueira Souza Costa (Ph.D. in Plant Science) is currently a Professor at Florida International University (FIU) in the Department of Earth and Environment, where she teaches Introduction to Environmental Science and Introduction to Horticulture Science. During her time at FIU, she has also taught Horticulture Science Lab, Modern Crop Production, Advanced Modern Crop Production, Soils & Ecosystems, Advanced Soil Resources Analysis, Ecological Agriculture, and Agroecology. Dr. Costa earned her B.A. in Agronomy in 2013 from the State University of Montes Claros (UNIMONTES), Brazil, where she conducted research titled Production and post-harvest quality of 'PALMER' mango: effects of paclobutrazol and uniconazole. She received her M.Sc. (2015) and Ph.D. (2019) in Plant Science from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), developing projects on Silicon in the morphophysiological development of passion fruit seedlings and Banana 'BRS PLATINA' under different mulches: yield, post-harvest, and morphophysiological parameters. As part of her doctoral research, Dr. Costa conducted a visiting scholar period (2017–2018) at the University of Florida, Tropical Research and Education Center, where she studied silicon in the in vitro multiplication of banana plants using bioreactors. From 2019 to 2021, she served as an Assistant Professor in the Agronomy Program at the University Center UNA in Pouso Alegre, Brazil, where she taught Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition, Pedology (Genesis, Morphology, and Classification), Phytopathology, Agricultural Entomology, and Climatology. At FIU, Dr. Costa also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021–2023), focusing on Nitrogen Management and Plant Quality Monitoring Using Optical Sensor Technology in Native and Non-Native Specialty Crops.
Barbara Nogueira Souza Costa
Assistant Teaching Professor | Lecturer
Earth and Environment
