Coffee & Development Workshop and Tasting

Do you want to know more about how coffee transforms from a humble bean, to a delicious drink in your mug? Do you want to know how to taste coffee? Are you curious about the livelihood of coffee farmers?Then come join us for our panel discussion on coffee production from farm to consumption. Our panel will have local experts and producers diving into the various challenges that the coffee industry faces today. A coffee tasting hosted by Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate will follow the event.

Friday, Nov 16th 2018 at 2:30 – 4:30 pm.
At Marston Science Library
Room L136 (Visualization & Conference Room, lower level below Startbucks)

– Panelists –
Anthony Rue is the co-owner of Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate. He is a CQI arabica Q-Grader, Cacao Quality Specialist for the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, and a World Coffee Events sensory judge for the World Barista Competition, the US Barista Competition, as well as head judge for national coffee competitions across Central America.

Christopher LeClere spent nearly 20 years in TV news working both, in front of and behind the camera, before moving to England to earn a masters degree in ethnographic documentary from the University of Manchester’s prestigious Granada School for Visual Anthropology. Chris’ PhD research is focused on the economics and social spaces of coffeehouses.

Gabriel Carrero has a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences, a Pg. Dip. in Environmental Management and Stewardship in Forest Ecosystems, and an M.Sc. in Ecology. He has been researching human populations in tropical forest environments since 2004 in Brazil (Amazon and Atlantic Forests) and Africa. Since 2007 he has been working with IDESAM (a Brazilian NGO) as a practitioner, developing and implementing projects for fostering forest conservation, environmental governance, and agricultural and forest productive chains based on ecosystem services’ sustainability.

Dylan Rigsby has spent time working in Central America on multiple occasions. After receiving his BA from UF, he moved to Costa Rica where he taught English in a small rural community. For his field practicum, Dylan worked in Guatemala with CIAT / Hans Neumann Stiftung, facilitating conversation on climate change with institutional actors in Guatemala’s coffee sector. Dylan’s experience in education, community awareness of climate change, and coffee production in Central America makes him the ideal moderator for our discussion.