UNT Geographer Works on NSF-Funded Research in Rio de Janeiro
In May 2013, and after three years at the University of North Texas, Marcio DaSilva received a bachelor's of science degree in geography. We recently touched based with him to ask how things were going. Here's his story.
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Somewhat serendipitously, in June 2013, I learned that Professor Alexandra Ponette-González planned to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a 3-week whirlwind of a trip to set up an NSF-funded project examining air pollution impacts on Atlantic montane forests in and around the city of Rio de Janeiro (Photo 1, http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1132444). I learned that the project required a field technician who could maintain and monitor three field sites for one full year, and after some discussion, I realized that field tech was going to be me. The next day at work I gave my two weeks notice and began preparations for yet another life transplant. When I made the decision to use the one-way ticket to Rio de Janeiro I had received as a graduation gift from my parents, I had a quasi-déjà vu experience. It reminded me of the decision I had made years before when I decided to leave Austin and attend UNT.
Photo 1a: Map of study sites in Rio de Janeiro. Floresta da Tijuca is a national park located in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro proper approximately 7 km from the Atlantic coast. Serra dos Órgãos National Park (PARNASO) is ~40 km downwind of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. Ilha Grande State Park is situated upwind of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.
Photo 1b: View north from Ilha Grande (left) and view of the forest in Serra dos Orgãos National Park (right).
In July, I traveled to Rio, where I met up with Dr. Ponette-González, her field assistant Bethel Steele, and her collaborators from the Geochemistry Program at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). During the first part of the trip, I received a fair bit of training on sample preparation, collection, and analysis in the laboratory at UFF (Photo 2). The following two weeks, we traveled to three protected areas--Floresta da Tijuca, Ilha Grande, and Serra dos Orgãos. With the assistance of local park managers and authorities, we traversed the areas to find sampling sites with a specific aspect and elevation. I used some of the skills I learned from coursework at UNT and also learned new ones. For example, I recorded information about our site locations with a Trimble GPS and helped set up collectors (Photo 3) that are being used to assess how Rio de Janeiro's urban atmosphere affects the chemistry of water (the amount of nitrogen and ammonium) as it passes from the atmosphere through the forest and downwards through the soil. I also collected soil samples (Photo 4). After selecting and setting up the sites, the research team traveled back to the U.S.
Photo 2: Bethel Steele (left) and Marcio DaSilva (right) prepare samples for the field.
Photo 3: Marcio and Dr. Ponette-González set up a throughfall (water that passes through the forest canopy to the forest floor) collector in Tijuca National Park.
Photo 4: Marcio collects soil samples at one of the field sites.
I currently live with family in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, and am working as a full time field technician on the project. Every month, I head to the lab at UFF where, with the help of Patricia Alexandre de Souza (a postdoctoral research fellow), I prepare materials before spending a full week traveling to each of the sites to service our collectors. I use public transportation--buses, a ferry, and even my own bike--to get to the sites.
Now that I am at the halfway mark, I realize that I have learned some invaluable lessons. I am consistently challenged to find creative solutions to field problems, such as setting up a collector at a difficult site to working around the weather. I realize that making lists is essential to fieldwork. You have to be clear and concise with information in a field notebook. In short, you have to be organized.
In between travels to the field, I am pursuing different types of geoprocessing work and improving my Portuguese. I consider this a stepping stone to a future career in geography. Before I take that step, I'm exploring the world and that, I think, is what geography is all about.