Faculty

Martim Ramiro Portugal Ferreira, professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), died at the age of 85, a victim of a prolonged illness. Married to Maria Avelina Moreira e Silva Vasconcelos Ferreira, he was born in Oliveira de Frades and resided in Coimbra. He was the father of Diogo Ferreira, Luísa Ferreira, Cláudia Ferreira, Benedita Ferreira, Manuel Ferreira, Teresa Ferreira and Mariana Ferreira. Doctorate in Geology in 1966, with 19 values, he was a professor at the FCTUC of numerous subjects, supervised masters and doctorates, carried out research and published more than a hundred books and scientific articles. He developed consultancy, and participated in several management, pedagogical and scientific bodies of the UC. He was also president of the Executive, Pedagogical and Scientific Board of FCTUC and municipal deputy, having been president of the Coimbra Municipal Assembly for several years.

Martim Ramiro Portugal Ferreira, professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), died at the age of 85, a victim of a prolonged illness. Married to Maria Avelina Moreira e Silva Vasconcelos Ferreira, he was born in Oliveira de Frades and resided in Coimbra. He was the father of Diogo Ferreira, Luísa Ferreira, Cláudia Ferreira, Benedita Ferreira, Manuel Ferreira, Teresa Ferreira and Mariana Ferreira. Doctorate in Geology in 1966, with 19 values, he was a professor at the FCTUC of numerous subjects, supervised masters and doctorates, carried out research and published more than a hundred books and scientific articles. He developed consultancy, and participated in several management, pedagogical and scientific bodies of the UC. He was also president of the Executive, Pedagogical and Scientific Board of FCTUC and municipal deputy, having been president of the Coimbra Municipal Assembly for several years.

He was born in 1937 and, after graduating in Geological Sciences at the University of Coimbra, he occupied the position of naturalist at the then Mineralogical and Geological Museum and Laboratory, currently the Department of Earth Sciences, under the guidance of Professor Cotelo Neiva. Later, and given his natural aptitude for field geology, he joined the Geological Services of Portugal where he carried out geological cartography work in different regions of the country. Later, he assumed responsibilities in the area of ​​prospecting at the former Sociedade Mineira de Santiago (Aljustrel) and, after a brief experience in supporting road tunnel construction work on the island of Madeira, he returned to the University of Coimbra where, for a few years, was responsible for several disciplines, with emphasis on Remote Sensing, Mineral Deposits and Geological Cartography. During this period he also provided relevant services, particularly in the energy sector.

The History of Celeste Romualdo Gomes as an Earth Sciences Educator – What she did, why she did it, and what happened

First Steps as a Geology Teacher
Celeste Romualdo Gomes graduated in Geology in 1986. In 1990, she completed her pedagogical aptitude and scientific capacity exams in the field of Paleomagnetism, a research area that would take her to the other side of the world, to Brazil, where she forged lasting friendships. In 1997, she defended her Doctoral thesis in Geology, also in this field. The following year, she began supervising pedagogical internships for the initial training of Biology and Geology teachers and started teaching the Geology Didactics course, far from imagining where her steps would eventually lead her.

Education as a Passion
As an internship supervisor, Celeste came into contact with various educational realities and numerous teachers, which naturally sparked her interest in Education-related themes. The topics closest to her heart were environmental education and Science Teaching, particularly Geology. Simultaneously, she taught in the Master’s program in Geosciences (specializing in Natural Sciences Teaching), where she began supervising master's theses in this field.

While serving as a lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Coimbra, she also enrolled as a student in the Master’s in Education Sciences (specializing in Educational Psychology) at the same institution, earning the degree in 2008. Although she never dissociated herself from scientific research—mainly in paleomagnetism and environmental magnetism—teaching, the dissemination of Geology, and teacher training became integral parts of her being.

Geosciences Education
Throughout her career, Celeste supervised 42 master's dissertations and 3 doctoral theses related to teaching and learning in Science, with a focus on Geology. She organized several colloquia and meetings for teachers and was responsible for various training courses for Biology and Geology teachers. She also collaborated with schools by delivering lectures and was invited to write the foreword for two outreach books, one of which was written by primary school students.

Despite the decline in the number of teachers in initial training, Celeste considers that the teaching and dissemination of Geology, as well as Science education, remain the focal points of her activity. She ventures to say that they are part of who she is. For her, the future of Geology depends on continuing to do what she loves most: teaching.

Held the following positions:

at the University of Coimbra – naturalist, 1964-1971 and technical researcher, 1972 at the Mineralogical and Geological Museum and Laboratory; professor auxiliary, 1972-1975 and 1976-1977; professor associate, 1983-1985 and prof. permanent professor since 1985 at the Faculty of Science and Technology; b) at the University of Brasília, Brazil – prof. adjunct, 1975-1976; c) at the University of Porto – prof. auxiliary, 1977-1979, prof. associate, 1979-1983.
She worked at the Dept. of Mineralogy and Petrology, Univ. Cambridge, U.K., 1966-1971, where he received his doctorate, and then a few months later in 1976, 1980 and 1981; b) in dept. of Geology, Univ. Manchester, U.K., a few months of 1971, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997 to obtain analytical data by X-ray fluorescence and microprobe; c) in the Dept. of Earth Sciences, Univ. Leeds, U.K., in September and October 1988 to date rocks and minerals by Rb-Sr; d) at the Nuclear Reactor Centre, Imperial College, Ascot, U.K., some months in 1988, 1993 and 1994 to determine rare earths from granitic rocks; e) at the Instituto Geológico e Mineiro, Porto, since 1977.
She was a member of the International Working Group of IGCP project “Mineralization associated with acid magmatism” until 1980. She is a member of the Mica Subcommittee of the International Mineralogical Association.
She collaborates on scientific work with: Johns Hopkins Univ. (U.S.A.), Geological Survey of Malaysia, CNRS (France), Univ. London (U.K.), Thessaloniki Univ. (Greece), Yamagate Univ. (Japan), Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Univ. Manchester (U.K.) and Institute of Geosciences at UFRGS (Brazil) and Department of Geology at UFRGN (Brazil).
She has been a referee for works submitted to the following publications: Mineralogical magazine, Bulletin de Minéralogie, Geochemical Exploration, European Journal of Mineralogy, Lithos, Canadian Mineralogist and Applied geochemistry Journal of South America Earth Science.
She has lectured at the Universities of: a) Faculty of Engineering, Porto (1986); b) LNETI, Lisbon (1986); c) Reading, U.K. (1987); d) Thessaloniki, Greece (1987); e) Nuclear reactor, Ascot, U.K. (1988); f) Science and Technology of China, Hefei (1991); g) Seoul National Univ., Seoul, South Korea (1992); h) Aveiro (1994); i) Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1997); j) Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (1997); k) Lisbon Science Academy (1997 and 1998).
He presented communications at 41 international congresses and at 16 Portuguese congresses.
He published a total of 66 works, 36 in international journals, 4 in international books and 26 in Portuguese journals.

Born on February 18, 1917 in the parish of Cedofeita, Porto, he was appointed Full Professor at the University of Coimbra in 1949 and its Rector between 1971 and 1974, having retired as Full Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences in 1987.

Graduated in Geological Sciences with distinction from the University of Porto in 1938, where he was hired in 1939 as an assistant to the Geological Sciences Group. Doctorate at this University in 1944, with the thesis “Portuguese deposits of Cassiterite and Wolframite”, where he became 1st assistant from 1945 to 1948. ”, in 1948, at the University of Porto. He was an Extraordinary Professor at this University from 1948 to 1949. In 1949, he took public exams for Full Professor at the University of Coimbra, having given the lesson “Geology of Portuguese iron ores – its interest for the steel industry”.

Between 1950 and 1974, he directed the Museum and Mineralogical and Geological Laboratory of the University of Coimbra. He was director of the Center for Geological Studies (1950-1975), of the Agrupamento de Estudos Geológicas do Ultramar (1954-1974) and of the Center for Studies of Mineralogy and Geology of Coimbra (1958-1974).

He collaborated with the Geological Survey of Portugal since 1940, the Serviço de Fomento Mineiro (1945-1963) and the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (1962-1964). He was a member of the Superior Council of Mines and Geological Services (1958-1974), of the Scientific Research Center of the Instituto de Alta Cultura (1964-1973) and of the National Board of Education (1971-1974).

He was director of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Coimbra, between 1963 and 1971, where he stood out for the reform of the various degrees, for the development of research and for the didactic equipment.

Between 1971 and 1974, he assumed the position of Rector of the University of Coimbra, having played a leading role in the physical and organic growth of the University, with the transformation of the Faculty of Sciences into the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, the creation of the Faculty of Economics and organized the process creation of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. He developed Social Services for staff and students and was responsible for installing multi-benefit services.

His academic activity is marked by research in the fields of geological resources, namely, mineralization and mineral deposits and associated geochemical processes, as well as engineering geology, related to geological and geotechnical cartography and the geomechanical behavior of materials.

He carried out geological and petrographic studies in mainland Portugal, Porto Santo, Angola, Mozambique, S. Tomé and Príncipe, Macau and Timor. He studied mineral deposits and quarries in Portugal, Angola, Mozambique and Goa.

He has been a consultant for the main hydroelectric projects in Portugal and in the former colonies, since 1957, where he marked the multidisciplinary design and construction teams of the main dams, having maintained this activity until 2002.

His bibliography consists of 203 published scientific works and 334 reports on Economic Geology and Applied Geology, which had national and international impact.

He was one of the founders of the Geological Society of Portugal (1941) and of the Sociedad Española de Cristalografia e Mineralogia (1975).

At the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, he was Corresponding Member from 1983 to 1987, Effective Member from 1987 to 2013 and Emeritus Member from 2013 to 2015. He was Emeritus Member of the Academy of Engineering from 2009 to 2015.

He was awarded the degree of Grand Cross of the Order of Public Instruction by His Excellency the President of the Republic in 2003.

In 2015, the Geological Society of Portugal established the Cotelo Neiva prize to honor and distinguish the scientific and/or professional career of a Portuguese geologist.