(NEWS) President Kjerfve Elected to Academia Brasileira de Ciências

December

2012

President Kjerfve Elected to Academia Brasileira de Ciências

Dr. Björn Kjerfve, President of the World Maritime University, was elected as a corresponding Member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciências, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, on 4 December. The Academy is the oldest and most prestigious association of scientists in Brazil, founded in 1916. It is a non-profit, non-governmental, scientific honor society, providing advice to the Brazilian government as needed.

Dr. Kjerfve is an oceanographer and has spent most of his professional career as a professor of oceanography/marine science at the University of South Carolina and later at Texas A&M University, where he served as Dean of the College of Geosciences from 2004-2009. His research on coastal physical processes includes field work in the USA, the Caribbean, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, the Persian Gulf, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Dr. Kjerfve has a long-standing connection to Brazil as a visiting professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense and other institutions 1984-2005, having supervised 7 Brazilian Ph.D. and 7 M.Sc. students, having carried out many coastal and estuarine field projects, and he continues an active research and scientific publication career. He was a co-author of the text book, Princípos de oceanografia física de estuários (Principles of physical oceanography of Estuaries) for which he (together with L.B. Miranda and B.M. Castro) won the 2003 Prêmio Jabuti prize in the category Ciêncías Exatas, Tecnologia e Informática, awarded by Câmara Brasileiro. The second edition of the publication was released in 2012.

Overall, 36 new members were elected to Academia Brasileira de Ciências in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth, biomedical, health, agriculture, engineering, and social sciences. A rigorous selection process ensures the election of scientists with the highest scientific impact. The mission of the Academy is to advance science and the interaction of Brazilian scientists and researchers from around the globe, and to promote technological advances and innovation. ‘Corresponding Member’ is a designation for Brazilian or foreign scientists living outside Brazil. The Inauguration celebration of the newly elected members of Academia Brasileira de Ciências will take place on 7 May at Escuela Naval de Rio de Janeiro.

For more information about the Academia Brasileira de Ciências click here.

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