With a breakfast offered at the Limári Campus in Ovalle to the students of the Pedagogy courses in Basic General Education and Agronomic Engineering, the University of La Serena and its higher authorities, headed by the Rector, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, officially welcomed to the students who are entering this year into the various undergraduate programs taught by the state campus.

Present at the welcome activity were the mayor of Ovalle, Claudio Rentería, members of the Board of Directors, higher authorities, directors, academics of the institution, and representatives of the Student Centers of the Majors of this Campus, who had the opportunity to share and enjoy a pleasant moment at the beginning of the first semester of 2014. 

''With this breakfast we begin the teaching activities of our University of La Serena and we wanted to do it in this commune where two important courses are taught, from which professionals graduate who have distinguished themselves in the workplace and you, of course, "They are called to follow that same path," the highest university authority told the young people, urging them to make their studies compatible with the fun and extracurricular activities organized by the ULS.

'Feel pleasantly welcomed, our greatest commitment as academics and as a School is to accompany you in this process and for that we need your commitment,' said the director of the School of Agronomy, Dr. Héctor Reyes. While the coordinator of Pedagogy in Basic General Education (Ovalle), Mg. René Barraza explained to the students that "they are on the verge of professional training that will allow them to cooperate with the development of our region and country," also highlighting the presence of the Rector and the university authorities in this activity.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Ovalle, Claudio Rentería, called on young people to make an effort and always aim to train themselves as good professionals and people. ''Here they are going to give them the tools to be good professionals,'' said the mayor.

Equipment for Bodybuilding Workshop

After this breakfast for the new students, the inauguration of the implementation and works of the Limarí Campus Bodybuilding Workshop took place. These are 6 new exercise machines that are available to the students of these careers, ''thus responding to the requirements of our students'', stated Dr. Nibaldo Avilés.

In this regard, the president of the CEC of Agricultural Engineering, Rodrigo Muñoz, maintained that the implementation of the Workshop was ''something that we had been managing and that the Campus students needed (...). "We are very grateful to the Rector and everyone who made this possible." 

For his part, the general director of Student Affairs, Mg. Miguel Zuleta explained that these quality machinery will help the comprehensive training of students, encouraging the practice of physical exercise and sports in young people, which is one of the objectives of the Department of Physical Education and Sports, dependent on the DGAE.

 

Laboratory of Microbial Control of Plague Agents

During the day, the new Microbial Control of Pest Agents Laboratory of the Department of Agronomy was also inaugurated, implemented thanks to the project 'Preparation of a mycoinsecticide for the control of black shell (Saissetia oleae) in citrus, based on entomopathogenic fungi' ', by the academics and researchers, Dr. (c) Carmen Jorquera (coordinator), Mg. Carol Krausz, and the agricultural engineers, Marcia Yáñez and Leticia Jofré. 

The director of the ULS Department of Agronomy, Dr. Adriana Benavides, pointed out that the initiative, financed by the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (FIA), aims to develop a mycoinsecticide with commercial potential based on Entomopathogenic Fungi (HEP). native and/or naturalized, for the control of the black shell. At the end of the project, it is expected to obtain a commercial prototype of a mycoinsecticide to transfer it to the market through a company specialized in bioinputs. 

The laboratory is projected as a reference center in the research and development of bio-inputs based on microorganisms, to meet the needs of the forestry, agricultural and livestock sector in arid and semi-arid areas of the country.