On June 13, 2022, Marc Meyers, Distinguished professor at the University of California, will be at UFMG to present the lecture River of Doubt: Reviving the Epic Journey in the Amazon by Roosevelt and Rondon in its Centennial, in the Seminar Room 1010 of the School of Engineering at UFMG, at 10 a.m.

Certificates will be issued for those who register through the Gestão de Eventos UFMG system, through this link.

The lecture will address the trip made by Professor Marc André Meyers, between 2014 and 2015, which retraces the route of the famous Roosevelt-Rondon expedition. Initiated in 1913, the Roosevelt-Rondon scientific expedition had the participation of the Brazilian Marshal Cândido Rondon and the former president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. The historic trip of the former president of the United States through Brazil covered the long course of the so-called River of Doubt, which is located in remote areas of the Amazon Basin. According to professor Marc Meyers, the lecture aims to rescue the history of Roosevelt and Rondon a century earlier, but also to present a summary of their journey carried out by the same means of transport as the original expedition, such as chalanas, mules, kayaks, canoes and by on foot.

“In our trajectory, we have overcomed many dangers and crossed many territories, such as the regions inhabited by the Parecis, Nambikwaras and Cintas-largas indigenous peoples. In the expedition it was possible to observe the environmental changes of the last hundred years and to collect important biological materials, subsequently studied by our graduate students. Unfortunately, we have witnessed the sad destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants.” – highlights Meyers.

About the guest
With a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFMG and a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Denver (USA), Marc André Meyers is ‘Distinguished Professor’ in Materials Science at the University of California. During his career he has developed research projects for major US funding sources in the areas of dynamic behavior (including explosives), nanostructures and biological materials. The results of his extensive research are published in 500 papers and four scientific books. He has received important awards in the USA (APS Shock Compression; TMS Mehl, Cohen, Weertman and Leadership; ASMInternational White, Sauveur; Acta Materialia Materials and Society), Europe (Senior Humboldt Awards, Heyn from DGM, Rinehart from DYMAT, Grand Prix en Sciences from Luxembourg), and China (Metals Research Institute Lee Hsun Award). He is a Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Luxembourg Academy (Istitut Grand Ducal). He is also the author of works of fiction: The Lady and the Luxembourger (D’amour et d’Acier, in French translation), Yanomami, Chechnya Jihad, and Mayan Mars. Marc Meyers is a Collaborating Professor at the Military Institute of Engineering and Second Lieutenant R/2, Corps of Engineers. He participated in 1969 in the Rondon / 3 Project on the Purus River.