How To Write A Lecture Tour Of Brazil

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1 Summary of Lecture Tour of Brazil Klaus Keil Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, SOEST University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI 96822, USA My Lecture Tour of Brazil in September/October, 2015, was sponsored by the Endowment Committee of The Meteoritical Society and also supported by a number of Brazilian Universities and organizations. The purpose of the Lecture Tour was to educate Brazilian students, faculty and laypersons in meteoritics/cosmochemistry, including in some of the recent cutting edge developments and discoveries. Brazil is a huge country, and a number of very active researchers report new meteorite discoveries every year, and a growing community of faculty and students are now working in this field. Thus, interest in these lectures was very high, and my Lecture Tour of Brazil was a great success (Table 1): I gave a total of 16 talks in Rio de Janeiro (3) [Museu Nacional (1), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (1), Pontificia Universidade Catolico do Rio de Janeiro (1)], Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1), Universidade de Sao Paulo (1), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Sao Jose dos Campos (1), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (1), Universidade Federal de Brasilia (4), Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador (3), Planetarium at Museu Parque do Saber, Feira de Santana, Bahia (1), and Sociedade Astronomica Brasileira, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais (1), at 11 Universities, research laboratories, museums, planetariums and Fig. 1. Some of the attendees at my talk on "Exploration of our Solar System with unmanned space probes", at the International Conference on Meteorites and Volcanoes, Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, September 3, This picture is at the Museu Nacional, the beautiful Palace of the Emperor from the colonial times. her students in their theses research. international conferences that were attended by an estimated 1,750 students, laypersons and faculties. I also held numerous private talks with many individuals after the talks and at informal impromptu sessions, and I assisted and will in the future assist Professor Betty Zucolotto in advising Table 1 is an abbreviated summary of events and talks given. One of the highlights of the Lecture Tour was that it was planned to coincide with the formal opening of the new Meteorite Hall at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, which took place in the evening of September 3, after my talk (Fig. 1). Betty Zucolotto, the Curator of Meteorites at the Museu Nacional and Professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro made a point of involving me as the representative of The Meteoritical Society in the Opening Ceremonies, including the ribbon cutting and at the following reception. Some 300 people, including many students, staff, faculty, Museu Nacional 1

2 administrators including the Director, and dignitaries, attended the Opening. The Opening Ceremonies became very Brazilian, with lots of pictures taken (Figs. 2-3). Fig. 2: Opening ceremonies of the new Meteorite Hall at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, with (f.l.to r.) Rogerio Salaverry, a student doing thesis work on meteorites with Betty Zucolotto, me, Betty Zucolotto and Amanda Tosi, the EPMA operator at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro doing a Masters thesis on meteorites with Betty, and who I am assisting in her research. Fig. 3: The hard core meteoriticists at the opening at the new Meteorite Hall at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, with students and professional personnel. The meteorite is the IIAB iron Santa Luzia and weighs 1.9 t. The star of the collection, of course, is the Bendego IC iron weighing 5.36 tons. Table 1: Summary of events and of talks given. Date Venue Talk #* Estimated number of attendees Remarks Sept. 3 Rio de Janeiro, R.J Museu Nacional, as part of the 2 day Conference on Meteorites and Volcanoes (Fig. 1) Sept. 3 Rio de Janeiro, R.J. 300 Museu Nacional, opening of the new Meteorite Hall (Figs. 2,3). Sept. 4 Rio de Janeiro, R.J Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, as part of the Conference on Meteorites and Volcanoes Sept. 9 Campinas, S.P Universidade Estadual de Campinas Sept. 10 Sao Paulo, S.P Universidade de Sao Paulo, and part of a series of lectures on "Encontros vulcanicos" Sept. 11 Sao Jose dos Campos, S.P Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais Sept. 12 Nova Petropolis, Rio Grande do Sul 8 Reception at the office of the Mayor of Nova Petropolis and presentation by Betty Zucolotto of a slice of the Nova Petropolis iron for their Museum (Figs. 4,5) Sept. 14 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Sept. 16 Brasilia, D.F Universidade Federal de Brasilia Sept. 17 Brasilia, D.F Universidade Federal de Brasilia Sept. 17 Brasilia, D.F In Uwe Reimolds short curse on Impact Cratering, Universidade Federal de Brasilia Sept. 17 Brasilia, D.F In Uwe Reimolds short curse on Impact Cratering, Universidade Federal de Brasilia 2

3 Sept. 21 Rio de Janeiro, R.J Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro Sept. 23 Salvador, Bahia 3 86 Attended and spoke before the Second Sept. 24 Salvador, Bahia 2 85 Attended and spoke before the Second Sept. 25 Salvador, Bahia 4 85 Attended and spoke before the Second Sept. 26 Feira de Santana, Bahia 1 95 Planetarium at Museu Parque do Saber Sept. 27 October 1 Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais Attended the Meeting of the Sociedade Astronomica Brasileira Sept. 28 Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais Gave introductory Plenary Lecture at the meeting of the Sociedade Astronomica Brasileira *The topics of the 1 hour talks listed in the Table are keyed to these numbers: #1. "Exploration of our Solar System with unmanned space probes". (Popular talk for students, educated laypersons, and professionals). #2. "Rocks that fall from the sky: The early history of our Solar System". (Popular talk for students, educated laypersons, and professionals). #3. "The early history of our Solar System: The first 10 Million years". (Professional talk for undergraduate and graduate students and academicians of all specialties). #4. "Volcanism on asteroids". (Professional talk for undergraduate and graduate students and academicians of all specialties). Another highlight of the Lecture Tour was the reception by the Mayor of Nova Petropolis, Rio Grande do Sul, where Betty Zucolotto presented a piece of the Nova Petropolis iron meteorite for their Museum (Fig. 4), and I explained the origin and implications of this meteorite to the Mayor and his staff and invited guests; they were fascinated. In typical Rio Grande do Sul fashion, a mug with mate, a green tea, made the rounds. As honored guest, I was given the drink after the Mayor had slurped his portion and new hot water had been filled in the jar (Fig. 5); it was my first experience with mate, and it was actually very refreshing! Fig. 4. Presentation of a piece of the Nova Petropolis iron meteorite to the Mayor of Nova Petropolis, for display in the museum of the city. At the very right is the man who found the meteorite during construction of a road. Fig. 5. In typical Rio Grande do Sul fashion, Mate, a green tea, was making the rounds; as honored guest, I was given the drink after the Mayor had slurped his portion, and new hot water had been filled into the jar. It was my first experience with mate! 3

4 The highlight of my Lecture Tour of Brazil and what was most astonishing and most gratifying to me was the incredible enthusiasm with which I was greeted and received by the Brazilian people, no matter which institution I visited. I am so impressed by the hunger that students, faculty and laypersons displayed for information on meteorites, their recovery and their study. I was astounded that, at many of my talks, record numbers of listeners attended and I had standing room only in many places (Fig. 6; according to my hosts, for example, in Porto Alegre and Brasilia, crowds of between persons established all-time records for the number of attendees at Geosciences seminars!). And most of their students understand English well and read the English literature: I gave all my talks in English, except for three in Brasilia and one in Feira de Santana, where they provided an interpreter (Fig. 7). Fig. 6. Talk at the Universidade Federal de Brasilia. As in many places, my talks were overflowing with standing standing room only! Fig. 7. With my interpreter, who translated in real time three of my talks at the in Salvador, and my talk at the Planetarium in the Museu Parque do Saber in Feira de Santana, Bahia. Final thoughts: If the Endowment Committee of The Meteoritical Society is interested in investing further in expanding knowledge of, and appreciation for, meteoritics/cosmochemistry and related sciences in the future in some countries that are just now entering the international teaching and research scene in this field, I suggest you consider additional Lecture Tours. You would have to carefully research which countries are to be visited, because there are not too many where the roots are there, and where some nourishment will bear ample fruit. Brazil is an ideal country for this purpose, and additional lecture tours are highly warranted: It is huge, has current meteorite recovery programs, and has already a solid basis of faculties that teach and research in this and related fields, and the beginning of an enthusiastic student population doing thesis work on meteorites. In Brazil, dedicated faculties include Betty Zucolotto (Museu Nacional and University Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Rosa Scorzelli (CBPF, Rio de Janeiro), Daniele Fulcio (Physics Department, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro), Alvaro Crosta (Universidade Estadual de Campinas), Fabio Ramos Dias de Andrade (Universidade de Sao Paulo), Ari Roisenberg (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), Natalia Hauser (Universidade Federal de Brasilia), Debora Dias (), and others. However, the selection of the speakers is critical to the success of such a program. You must find individuals who are expert scientists but who also are great and enthusiastic speakers and can present complicated matters in an easily understood fashion. It also should be individuals who are 4

5 sensitive to, and appreciative of, the cultures and customs of the host countries and who come across understanding the many obstacles that students and faculties have to overcome to be successful. 5