Ricardo Neto, Master’s Degree Student, Meteoritic Geology
NAME: Ricardo Neto
CURRENT TITLE: Master’s student
AREA OF EXPERTISE: Research area is on meteoritics related to the chondrites petrology, metamorphism and mineral chemistry.
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: With four years of expertise in petrography and scanning electron microscopy of terrestrial rocks and meteorites, having some interest in early earth’s crust and tectonic evolution and its relation to the formation of the solar system.
EDUCATION: Bachelor in geology by the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil and current Master’s course at the Federal University of Ceará, Brazil with the scientific project in Brazillian chondritic meteorites. My current co-advisor is the Dr. Klaus Keil from the University of Hawaii.
WEBSITE: http://www.meteoriticainfo.webs.com
TWITTER: @meteor_man1
What’s your job like?
Basically consists of getting data from current scientific literature and making models based on the data from electron microprobe in mineral phases of ordinary chondrites to understand thermodynamic and cosmochemical relationships in meteorites.
What’s a typical day like?
It’s a day with a lot of research on papers and my own collected data to interpret all in a single geologic and chosmochemical context.
What’s fun?
It is fun — all the stuff related to rocks that came from outer space and their unique signature of the early geological history of our solar system and of our own planet.
What’s challenging?
The challenge for me is to fit the expected scientific model and produce novel results that could answer questions in common meteorites such as the chondrites; perhaps bringing new insights in the formation of chondrules or new ways to do thermodynamics in metamorphosed chondrites.
What’s your advice to students?
Always keep your open. Look for answers where all the others think that the work is already done or all the questions are already solved. Great discoveries sometimes reside in the most simple places in nature.