Brazil in Our Environment

Rio to Wolverhampton

The University of Wolverhampton has welcomed hundreds of academic visitors throughout the year to work together on exciting research and developments to help other countries. This month sees the end of a hugely successful sixth month period where visitors from Brazil have made the most of their time here working with the Faculty of Science and Engineering... Professor Antonio Guerra and Maria Jorge have been working with the Univeristy since January and are currently on visit from the Federal University of Rio de Janiero (UFRJ).

Professor Guerra is an academic in Geography at UFRJ where he is the Co-ordinator of the Laboratory of Environmental Geomorphology and Soil Degradation (LAGESOLOS) and Maria Jorge is a PhD student in UFRJ’s Geography Department currently working as an Associate Researcher for LAGESOLOS. During their time here, the visitors have been involved in extensive research on Landcare and environmental science projects with the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Professor Antonio Guerra told Insider: “We come from Rio de Janeiro, a very busy city of six million inhabitants but we do not miss it that much, since Wolverhampton, besides offering a bit of everything and being very cosmopolitan, like the University, has the warmth of its people, which matters to us.

We have to go back to Brazil at the end of July, but for sure we will come back to do some more work at the University of Wolverhampton. We would like to thank all the staff and students who have helped us at the University.

Our experience at the University of Wolverhampton has been wonderful for both me and Maria Jorge, my wife, not only in terms of the laboratories and library. Because of the excellent hospitality from the staff members of the University this makes us feel as if we were at home.”

Maria Jorge and Antonio Guerra have been working on projects and research briefs with Professor Mike Fullen. These projects have included papers on ‘Soil Erosion and Mass Movements’ and delivering seminars to the ‘Built Environment and Engineering Research Seminars’ (BEERS) group on subjects including Geotourism and Geo-conservation in Ubatuba Municipality and Land Degradation in Brazil: causes and consequences.

They have also supported Professor Fullen’s project on Landcare called the Hanover and Wolverhampton Link Organisation Project.

Professor Mike Fullen said “Since our first meeting in Rio de Janeiro in September 2011, I have worked very closely with Antonio and Maria and we have become good friends."

“I have had the pleasure of four visits to Brazil, which I have found extremely interesting, informative and enjoyable. We have developed a very solid platform for future collaboration, based on investigations both in the field and the laboratory, and we are very much ‘partners in progress.’ “To date, the University of Wolverhampton has had relatively little engagement with South America. I hope our productive collaboration will make a contribution to developing strong links between the University and South America in general and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in particular.”