Re: if someone has time, could they help as my grade and career depend on it?

What was your initial motivation to enter your field of expertise?
When I was an undergraduate student, the University of Sao Paulo created a new course in Geophysics. I've read the info and the structure of the course and I thought it would be a good career to work on. I was right about that, the time has proved!

What academic and/or professional preparation was required to lead to your present position?
Bsc in Geophysics, Msc in Geophysics and PhD in Geophysics (sorry to be repeating...). Nowadays, the scientific knowledge goes so fast, and we have to be updated about it.

What do you enjoy the most about your work?
The most interesting feature of the geophysicist work is to investigate places that are inaccessible to other methods, including visual inspection. We can obtain a lot of information by processing a lot of data. That is great!

What do you enjoy the least about your work?
The only universal constant: burocracy!

In what way do you believe that your work makes the world a better place
By investigating the Earth's structure, we can act to minimize earthquakes damages, to find underground water, to mapping contamination of water reservoirs, and so on.

Please briefly describe the nature of your scientific research.
I work on the representation and interpretation of gravity data in continental and marine regions, in order to investigate the mechanical properties and evolution of lithospheric plates.

What impact do you perceive your research has on society?
With this method we can map the continental slope, as an example, in order to establish the territorial domain of the continental margin.

Sorry for the delay, but I had some problems with my computer.
If you need anything else, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards

Eder C. Molina
Geophysicist
Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences
University of Sao Paulo - BRAZIL
eder@iag.usp.br