Kaique dos Santos Alves
Plant Disease Epidemiologist, Plant Health Scientist, and Quantitative Modeler
Plant disease epidemiology for better breeding and better decisions
I am an Agronomist with M.Sc. and D.Sc. training in Plant Pathology, currently working as a Plant Health Scientist at Bayer Crop Science. My work connects epidemiology, risk assessment, modeling, and data science to practical decisions in plant breeding, crop protection, and sustainable agriculture.
Working across disease surveillance, predictive modeling, yield loss analysis, mechanistic simulation, machine learning, and data-driven plant health strategy.
At a glance
- Plant Health Scientist, Bayer Crop Science
- 10+ years in plant disease epidemiology
- R package developer and applied modeler
Research and industry focus
Disease risk modeling
I develop mechanistic, statistical, and machine learning frameworks to predict disease prevalence, support surveillance, and improve decision-making across breeding and plant health programs.
Plant breeding support
My work supports strategic decision-making, data collection design, and quantitative plant health priorities for corn and soybean breeding programs across large geographies.
Quantitative innovation
I build analytical workflows, software tools, and modeling systems that turn research-grade methods into practical tools for teams working in real breeding and commercial contexts.
Core strengths
Plant pathology Epidemiology Risk assessment Disease surveillance Machine learning Bayesian inference Stochastic simulations R programming Data visualization Decision support systems High-throughput phenotyping Project leadership
Selected impact
Bayer Crop Science
Led the development of risk-modeling frameworks for breeding pipelines, disease monitoring programs, and decision-support systems that integrate monitoring data, predictive models, and climate outlooks.
Global collaboration
Worked across Latin America and global teams on major diseases affecting corn and soybean, including soybean rust, corn stunt, tar spot, and southern corn leaf blight.
Software and methods
Developed the epifitter and ec50estimator R packages and several web applications to support data-driven plant pathology, teaching, and applied epidemiological analysis.
Recent highlights
- Plant Health Scientist, Bayer Crop Science, 2024 to present.
- LATAM Risk Assessment Lead at Bayer Crop Science, 2022 to 2024.
- Research Intern in Plant Pathology at Cornell University, 2021 to 2022.
- Author of recent 2025 publications in Plant Pathology, Phytopathology, and Crop Protection.