Guess Who? - Ricardo Ramalho
"Islands are also excellent natural laboratories for the Earth Sciences, as they are more spatially confined and it is easier to isolate the parameters that drive their evolution. These are the very reasons why I study them so passionately – the chance to do do fieldwork in exotic islands is also a motivation not to be underestimated." Ricardo Ramalho is a field geologist at IDL and he is the “Guess Who” interviewee of this month.IDL - What is a field geologist? When did you decide to become one?Ricardo Ramalho (RR) - A field geologist is any geologist whose work or research is mostly derived from - or is based on - direct observations in the field, rather than being substantially based on laboratorial, instrumental, or modelling work. It is a vague concept, as most geologists rely on field observations to some extent... however field geologists tend to spend a substancial part of their time in the field, doing mapping, making logs, collecting samples etc. I have always been attracted to life in the outdoors, and so becoming a geologist that does a lot of fieldwork was a natural option. I was also inspired by my teachers/tutors such as António Ribeiro, António Serralheiro, João Cabral, José Madeira, Paulo Fonseca, etc, and later by Steve Sparks and George Helffrich (at Bristol).IDL - You did your MSc studies in FCUL and finished in 2004. You came back to the Faculty 12 years later, in 2016. What has changed since you left? Why did you decide to come back?RR - Many things have changed, and yet much is the same. The facilities certainly have improved, and I find people a bit more forward thinking. Whilst I was abroad, research centres also moved from being mostly based on departments (or even “sections” within the departments) to multi-disciplinary platforms such as IDL – and that is a substantial change.As someone who still relies on "soft money" for his employment and to support his research, I applied to several places and funding schemes, including the “Investigador FCT” programme here in Portugal. From the several applications I submitted, this was the one that got funded (and was fully funded) or was more advantageous, and so here I am. Going back to my country and to a place I always considered as home, also made it easier, of course.IDL - You did your PhD in Bristol and you worked as a researcher in Germany and the USA. How did these international experiences impacted the way you work?RR - It impacted me most profoundly, in many positive ways. I felt that I had an excellent and very broad training as a geologist at FCUL – and that was obvious when I went abroad and inevitably compared my training with that of my colleagues. But going abroad opened my horizons immensely, made me to become more objective and effective, and above all made me look beyond the immediate result of our work and being capable of thinking “out of the box”, always considering the broader implications of what you propose to do. It also made me much more combative (in a positive way) and self-confident. My rich international experience gave me many valuable transferable skills, and the contact with very different ways of addressing/solving problems helped me immensely. Last but not the least, it improved massively my mastering of the English language, something that no one should underestimate in a trade where English is the “lingua franca”. In short, it made me a better scientist and (I hope) a better person.IDL - What did you like about living in Bristol, compared to living in Lisbon?RR - Bristol is a very vibrant small but still big city. In 20 mins you can be in the countryside, without experiencing the choking traffic, and most people live at a walking distance from the university. Being able to walk or cycle to work, through a nice scenery is something really soothing to one’s mind, and I miss that in Lisbon, notwithstanding the many positives aspects of Lisbon.IDL – Can you tell us one thing you enjoy and one thing you don’t enjoy about doing research in Portugal? And in England?RR - In Portugal I really enjoy working with people with whom I have learned so much, and with whom I have so many common interests. What I least like in Portugal, is a system that somewhat “mistreats” or at least does not give the due value to a whole generation of hard-working early-career and even mid-career scientists, who contribute massively to the success of Science in Portugal, and yet are still in a precarious situation.What I enjoyed the most in England (or at least in Bristol) is that the research is usually done in an outstanding colegial environment, where despite their differences people work effectively together and with respect, and always with a very positive atmosphere. The British system is also one that combines research-only, teaching-only or joint research and teaching profissional paths in a remarkable successful way. What I enjoyed the least in England, is the direction in which funding in science is taking, with NERC (the British equivalent to FCT) preferring to fund more multi-million projects on “fashionable” science with capital investment rather than more but smaller projects that cover a broader spectrum.IDL - What is the most unexpected place your work took you to?RR - New York City (Manhattan) – as someone who is constantly seeking to enjoy the outdoors, I never imagined that one day I would live in a place like New York City. I enjoyed the experience, but I am glad that is over, in the sense that I was not made to live in between skyscrapers and tall buildings such as in NYC. My place of work, however, was at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is located outside NYC, in the forest by the River Hudson. So, despite living in such extreme urban environment, everyday I was in the midst of the woods, with an unrivalled view from my office, to the forest. We even had the ocasional visit of bears and coyotes in the campus!IDL - What are Ocean Island volcanoes and why do you study them?RR - Ocean Island volcanoes are the only geological features that still cannot be explained by the conventional plate tectonics framework, as the volcanism at their origin is unrelated to seafloor spreading or melting generated by subduction processes, and therefore needs to be explained by another mechanism (e.g. hotspot melting by a mantle plume). They are also some of the tallest and more rapidly-formed geological features on Earth, being very dynamic environments where landscape evolution usually happens at a faster pace than on continents. Islands are also excellent natural laboratories for the Earth Sciences, as they are more spatially confined and it is easier to isolate the parameters that drive their evolution. These are the very reasons why I study them so passionately – the chance to do fieldwork in exotic islands is also a motivation not to be underestimated.IDL - Do you have any advice to give to students who are just starting their PhD?RR - Yes – take the most of international experiences and build your professional networks as broad as possible, as more international as possible. Go abroad as a postdoc, while you are more flexible and you are more able to take the most of an international experience. The world is your oyster!IDL - Work, passion or luck? What contributes the most to the success of a scientist?RR - This is a tough question, as all are interlinked and are important. If I had to choose, I guess work would win the day, but work without creativity does not lead to major breakthroughs.