André Oliveira Sawakuchi
Head
Associate professor at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo and head of LEGaL. Research interests include luminescence geochronology and applications to sediment origin; landscape evolution and climate change in Amazonia and its relationship with current biogeographical patterns; the impacts of hydroelectric dams on Amazonian rivers; and hydrocarbons in sedimentary basins.
Current projects:
i. Trans-Amazon Drilling Project: origin and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics (TADP) / Fapesp, ICDP, NSF and STRI / principal researcher
ii. The fate of Holocene blue carbon in the Yangtze and Amazon coastal wetlands in response to precipitation and sea level changes / Fapesp and NSFC / principal researcher
iii. Water sharing and resilience of a unique socio-ecological system in the Volta Grande do Xingu / Fapesp and CONFAP / principal researcher
Paulo César Fonseca Giannini
Associated Researcher
Senior professor at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo. Research interests include sedimentology, sedimentary petrography and Quaternary coastal depositional systems, focusing on eolian coastal systems, beach-dune interactions, sea-level changes and geoarchaeology.
Current projects:
i. Late Quaternary coastal eolian systems and climatic anti-phase between northeastern and south-southeastern Brazil – CNPq / principal researcher
Fabiano do Nascimento Pupim
Associated Researcher
Adjunct professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences of the Federal University of São Paulo and advisor in the Geochemistry and Geotectonics Graduate Program of the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo. Research interests include Earth surface processes, fluvial geomorphology and sedimentology, landscape evolution, tropical rivers and wetlands, luminescence dating, cosmogenic nuclides, geomorphological mapping, environmental planning, remote sensing and GIS.
Current projects:
i. From sand grains to mountain chains: linking recent Andean orogenesis and climate changes to the assembly of lowland Amazonia (PAALE) / Fapesp / principal researcher
ii. Characterizing the establishment of the watershed divide between the Orinoco and Amazonas river basins and its influence on paleoenvironments and biotic diversification / Fapesp / principal researcher
Vinícius Ribau Mendes
Associated Researcher
Adjunct professor at the Department of Marine Sciences of the Federal University of São Paulo. Research interests includes sedimentology, Quaternary depositional systems and their relation with climate changes, use of luminescence sensitivity as precipitation and source proxy.
Current projects:
i. Effects of South Atlantic warming on South American precipitation / Fapesp / principal researcher
ii. A new approach for an open question: The effect of Atlantic meridional circulation collapse in South America precipitation/ Serrapilheira / Principal researcher
Thays Desiree Mineli
Laboratory Technician
Bachelor of Physics, with emphasis in Biomedical Physics, from the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics of the State University of Campinas. MSc in Electrical Engineering, in the area of Biomedical Engineering, from the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the State University of Campinas and PhD from Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo, focusing on luminescence dating. Began working as a technician in the laboratory in 2013.
Marília de Carvalho Campos Garcia
Associated Researcher
Visiting researcher at the Institute of Geosciences of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). BSc in Environmental Management and MSc and PhD in Sustainability from the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo, with visiting periods at the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (Germany). Research interests include climate change, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology.
Current project:
i. The South Atlantic on a 2°C warmer planet / Fapesp / principal researcher
André Zular
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Geosciences from the University of São Paulo (2016). Research interests include eolian depositional systems, Quaternary sediment dating methods, paleoclimatology and climate change.
Current research: The search of a provenance proxy of sediments from marine cores using grain mineralogy and texture
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Isaac Salém Alves Azevedo Bezerra
Postdoctoral Researcher
BSc in Oceanography and MSc and PhD in Sedimentary Geology from the Federal University of Pará. Research interests include sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleoenvironmental and sea level changes and the Cenozoic in the Amazon.
Current research: The sedimentary record of the Eastern Amazon during the Neogene and Quaternary – implications for the evolution of amazon drainage
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Fernanda Costa Gonçalves Rodrigues
Postdoctoral Researcher
Fernanda is a post-doctoral fellow at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo, working with climate and sedimentary dynamics of in Amazonia during the Quaternary. She holds a bachelor degree in Geology (2015), a master degree (2017) and a PhD (2022) from the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo. Her research interests encompass luminescence dating, provenance analysis and Quaternary landscape evolution.
Current research: Climate and sedimentary dynamics of Amazonian floodplains during the Quaternary and its role on biotic diversification
Priscila Emerich Souza
Postdoctoral Researcher
Priscila is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Environmental Sciences of the Federal University of São Paulo, Diadema campus, and develops her research at LEGAL. She holds a bachelor (2011) and master degree (2014) in Oceanography from the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG), and a PhD degree in Geosciences from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (2019). She is an expert in optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, having been trained at the Nordic Luminescence Laboratory (NLL, ), Technical University of Denmark (DTU, Risø Campus) during her PhD studies in Denmark (2015-2019). Her research interests include evolution of coastal and fluvial landscapes, and advances in luminescence dating (e.g., rock surface dating and luminescence-based proxies)
Current research: Reorganization of the western Amazon drainage system during the Neogene and Quaternary based on the provenance of sediments solved by luminescence techniques
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Kleiton Rabelo de Araújo
PhD Student
Graduate student at the Biological Sciences Faculty at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), specializing in environmental toxicology, water quality and biogeochemistry of continental water bodies. BSc in Biological Sciences and MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation from the Federal University of Pará.
PhD project: Carbon contribution, degradation and transport in tidal flooded areas in the lower Amazon: implications for reconstruction of environmental changes in the Quaternary and for the regional carbon balance
Thaís Aparecida Silva
PhD Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), specializing in coastal eolian systems. BSc in Geography from the Federal University of Alfenas and MSc in Geography from the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
PhD project: Sedimentary evolution and chronology of coastal eolian systems at the São Francisco River mouth – paleoclimatic implications
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Caio Breda
PhD Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), specializing in the evolution of tropical river systems in the Late Cenozoic. BSc in Geology from the State University of São Paulo and MSc in Geosciences from the University of São Paulo.
PhD project: Paleogeographic reconstruction of river systems in the northwest of the Amazon
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Stefania C. de Oliveira
PhD Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP). BSc in Geography and MSc in Geosciences from the State University of São Paulo.
PhD project: Effects of anthropogenic disorders on the river systems of the Upper Paraguay and Pantanal River Basin
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Yewubinesh Bekele Reba
PhD Student
BSc in Geology from the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. MSc in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation from the University of Twente, Netherlands, and postgraduate diploma in Assessment and Management of Geological and Climate Related Risk at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Research interests include luminescence dating techniques and provenance change.
PhD project: Luminescence geochronology and provenance of the Quaternary sedimentary record in the Acre Basin
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William Mozart Henrichs
PhD Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), specializing in quartz luminescense sensitization.
PhD project: Quartz luminescence sensitization in Brazilian biomes and its use to reconstruct Cenozoic terrestrial surface processes in the Amazon
Carolina Barbosa Leite da Cruz
Master Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), and BSc in Geology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Master project: Luminescence signals sensitivity of quartz from the Putumayo foreland basin, north-eastern Andes (Colombia): implications for sediment provenance and basin evolution
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Jesus Alberto Salas Rangel
Master Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), specializing in sedimentology and Quaternary coastal depositional systems. Researcher geologist at the National Institute of Geology and Mines of Venezuela (2020-2022). Geological Engineer from the Central University of Venezuela (2021).
Master project: Reconstruction of Quaternary coastal eolians systems in the Paraguaná Peninsula, Venezuela
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Renan Cassimiro Brito
Master Student
Graduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), and BSc in Information Systems from Centro Universitário Fundação Instituto de Ensino para Osasco – UNIFIEO and in Environmental Sciences from the Federal University of São Paulo – UNIFESP.
Master project: Paleogeographic reconstruction of the Middle Negro River during the Quaternary: a geomorphological-geochronological approach.
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Thomás Comar Miranda
Undergraduate Student
Undergraduate student at the Institute of Geosciences of the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP), working with greenhouse gases (GHG) monitoring and carbon footprint analysis.
Scientific initiation project: Low-cost automated sensors use for monitoring methane (CH4) emissions
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