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Students Interested in Earth Process

Date: (3/7/2009)

Facultad de Ciencias de la Tierra

In an interview with Dr. Juan Alonso Ramirez Fernandez who talked about School of Earth Sciences postgraduate studies as well as Mineralogy and Petrology.

Dr. Juan alonso Ramirez in one of the School of Earth Sciences laboratories which has high quality equipment.

By Mayra Silva

The UANL School of Earth Sciences offers besides its four bachelor’s degrees, its Master’s Degree in Geological Sciences and Doctoral Degree in Sciences major in Geosciences. They both are part of the National Council for Science and Technology’s CONACYT, Spanish abbreviation) National Registry of Graduate Programmes thanks to its quality, so, that allows offering scholarships to make researches in this field.

Currently, School of Earth Sciences postgraduate studies have around 30 students who work in four investigation areas: Geodynamics, Paleontology and Stratigraphy, applied Geophysics major in Geological Engineering, and a research and projects’ development is make to them.

Dr. Juan Alonso Ramirez Fernandez, School Postgraduate Studies’ sub principal said that not only UANL students are in Master’s Degree and Doctoral Degree but some Mexico’s universities students from fields of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Chemical, Mechanics, etc.

He also said that students have been focused more on oil, hydrocarbons and environment investigation because of social and economic hard situation in Mexico and the whole world.

The students keep being interested in classic Geology and geological field knowledge which is a basis to resolve deposits, water and civil constructions mistakes problems,” said Dr. Juan Alonso Ramirez.

So, postgraduate studies have six researches attached to the National System of Researches (SNI, Spanish abbreviation) and combine the projects with governmental institutions such as Mexico’s oil called Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX, Spanish abbreviation) in exploration and production areas, the National Seismological Service, the National Water Commission as well as different brands’ particularities.

The Research

Besides his work in School of Earth Sciences postgraduate studies, Doctor of Natural Sciences, Juan Alonso Ramirez Fernandez focused his investigations on Mineralogy, igneous and magmatic rocks, as well as vulcanology and deposits. :

We try to understand the processes which carry rocks history and formation. They are witnesses and we have to research all of them to know what made them emerge. That formation allows us to understand the geological context in a regional or tectonic plates level.”

On the other hand and thanks to hydrocarbons acknowledge, School personnel can give its opinion about Mexico’s oil. Dr. Ramirez said Mexico has always played an important role in hydrocarbons, however, important deposits has decreased their production.

Other deposits were no searched and exploited because of these deposit’s size and simplicity. The future of Mexico’s oil depends on search and research made currently, especially in sea region such as Gulf of Mexico.

“Now, we have to apply more technology, take more risks on exploitation, we will require more human resources, even though it is no the same that affects hydric resources. We need to get students prepared,” said Dr. Ramirez Fernandez.

Furthermore, geological processes do not stop as they are part of science. What happened before will be happening, they are processes so long and we do not see them, because most of them are underground.

That is why School of Earth Sciences work camp is wide. Nowadays, most of the graduate students are working as professors and researches, other ones with hydrocarbons, industry, etc. And students are well educated that School carries out curses for companies or industries and recommend or receives students of the companies or industries.

Finally, Juan Alonso Ramirez mentioned who wishes to study a career like this one, needs to love hard sciences such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, environment commitment, curiosity, and being able to walk a lot, get dirty with earth as well as being exposed to sun.