Cruz Garcerá holds a PhD in Agricultural Engineering and a degree in Food Science and Technology from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain). Her research is mainly focused on spraying technology, pesticide losses and their environmental impact, integrated pest management, agricultural mechanization, and precision agriculture, mainly in high-growing specialty crops. Therefore, her scientific and technical contributions have been targeted at proposing and implementing practical and scientifically validated solutions to the Mediterranean agri-food sector to achieve sustainable use of plant protection products by improving the efficiency and efficacy of spray applications and reducing the risks to the environment and people.
Her scientific career began at the Center of Agroengineering of the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA) in 2003. During her PhD studies, she spent a stay at the University of California in the USA, stationed at Kearney Agricultural Center (Parlier, CA), tutored by Dr. Elizabeth Grafton-Cardwell, where she researched on the optimization of spraying application techniques in citrus crops. Since finishing her PhD, she has worked as a researcher at IVIA.
During her scientific career, she has participated as a member of the research group in national and international research projects, and agreements with private companies of the agricultural sector, all of them related to the same line of research.
She is co-author of scientific publications in high-impact peer review journals, technical publications, and many contributions in national and international conferences. As for her teaching experience, she has participated in many training courses on the optimization of spray application techniques for technicians and growers.