Another Brazilian Semester in the Books

My second semester at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa has come to a close and in two weeks time I’ll find myself back in Jordan hall back where I started. During my year in Brazil I’ve had the chance to learn Portuguese, take forestry and GIS classes at a top notch school, create friendships and professional contacts I’ll keep forever and conduct research in the Amazon on land use and development. The past 6 weeks have been filled with Churrasco farewell parties, trips to Iguazu Falls and Sao Paulo with my parents who came to visit and interviews with settled farmers on the Amazonian frontier. Before heading home in two weeks I’ll have a final few days in Buzios, Rio de Janeiro to take in some sun and rest my bones.

Mariana and me in Vicosa

I’ve travelled to nearly 40 countries in my life, though am compelled to say Brazil is it for me. Warm people, epic beaches, incredible rainforests, first class cities and amenities, developing cities and rural areas, racial harmony, a culture of work hard/party hard, samba soccer and weekend churracos among a list that goes on and on. However, as much as I love Brazil, it was the state of Minas Gerais in particular where I spent the majority of my time that holds the biggest place in my heart.


Rich in colonial history, filled with rolling hills littered with coffee plantations and forests and serving the best food found in Brazil, including my favorite dish Feijao Tropeiro, Minas Gerais matches the cultural contribution to Brazil’s soul offered by the samba rhythms of Carioca Rio de Janeiro, the exotic, african descendant flavors of Bahia, the cosmopolitan, financial makeup of Sao Paulo, the European, gaucho mix found in Rio Grande do Sul and the indigenously populated, rainforest filled Amazonia. Where ever I travel to in Brazil I introduce myself as a Mineiro first, which often is met with open arms as so many are found through out the country and we share in our saudades (Brazilian portuguese for longing, which Ive been convinced does not translate). A nearly perfect climate year round, it was here where my university was located.


View of campus from my apartment

Viçosa was a perfect home away from home and by the time I left I found myself more comfortable in the forestry department, among professors and colleagues, and the town itself that I did in Raleigh before leaving. Perhaps it was simply being the American on campus or the warm reception Brazilians aren’t stingy with, though there was rarely a face I passed in my building on campus that I hadn’t either played soccer, drunken some beers or had classes together with. It’s a very familial atmosphere at the university which along with USP and UFP, is known as a top school for soils, agronomy and forestry among other courses.



As with all big trips I didn’t know what to expect before starting though will leave here in two weeks with data for a thesis, solid language skills, some great relationships and a love for Brazil, Minas Gerais and Vicosa.

I welcome questions or interest in my experience as my time was only made possible via the Brazil F.I.P.S.E. Ecosystem Services Program run by Dr. Lucian Lucia, which is currently accepting applicants for future study abroad opportunities as well as running the capstone course of this program this fall, WPS 595: Forest and Soil Ecosystem Services.Full details can be found at http://www.cnr.ncsu.edu/wps/intl/brazil.html .

On the Amazonian Frontier

Out of the hot, humid north and back to the cool, developed south. I’ve just returned from the adolescent, south western Amazonian state of Rondonia. Though not a top choice of destinations for most Brazilians, for those who care to learn the history and fate of the Amazon forest and see first hand a modern day ‘40 acres and a mule’ campaign, it’s unmatched in its offerings.

Dr Erin Sills and I are part of a research team made up of NCSU, Salisbury University and UC-Santa Barbara, that has been researching the relation between land use and human welfare, since 1996.

INCRA, or the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, is the governmental agency who spearheaded the development of the state starting in the 1970s. Attracting people from across Brazil, carving roads and farms out of primary forest, it has settled tens of thousands of immigrants in the effort to ‘give a land without people to a people without land’. I’ll admit to having have had plenty of preconceived notions of government sponsored deforestation before arrival in Rondonia. Mandatory forest clearance to secure land tenure, financial and technical assistance for cattle production, indian removal and low levels of law environmetnal law enforcement. Travelling to Rondonia however, tempered my feelings and animated my opinions.

Not that I don’t feel the current paradigm of development couldn’t be improved. An increasing speed of the creation of new settlements coupled with an aggressive road building campaign are alarming. Though in meeting the farmers, the men and women who broke their backs over the land, fought off incredible rates of malaria, lived amidst the wilds of a lowland tropical rainforest and watched their family and neighbors succumb to sickness, remaining all the while on their land to this very day, well, it just gives it a human side. The feat of these folks who arrived to their lots, which then existed only on paper, via a 3 day hike through virgin forest, is nothing short of incredible nor historic. Right or wrong the politics of development in the region may be, there is no denying the endurance of the human spirit that is on display along the rural roads of Rondonia.

I’m often asked, why is an American intereseted in Rondonia? What do I care for the Amazon or for Brazil? Weekly, I fend off questions of American aims to internationalize the Amazon, though through these doubts have become more aware of just why I am here and what I truly do care about.
Brazil is a country unmatched in its diversity. Economically, naturally and racially, the disparity between a university town in Minas Gerais versus a Bahian beach village versus an extractive reserve in Acre, is incredible. The challenge for Brazil today is walking the fine line of preserving their cultural and natural heritage while entering the 21st centrury as a country worthy of membership in the G-8 which it seeks. I hope in my time here to learn all I can about this balancing act and that the work of my research group aids in the process.

A Gringo Thanksgiving

To thank our Brazilian friends for their hospitality, the other Americans and I decided to host a Thanksgiving party. Despite a botched toast in which I referred to Brazilians as Indians, the party was a success!

Back in Brasil

After a semester at the Universidad Federal de Vicosa and the Christmas season in North Carolina, I have returned to Brazil for a few months of research in the Amazonian state of Rondonia and for another semester of classes starting in March. I am a Masters student from NC State University in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. I chose to participate in the FIPSE exchange program between the two schools to prepare myself for an NCSU research project on Amazonian deforestation as well as to further develop my skills in international affairs.

I loved my first semester in Vicosa, so much so that I opted to come back for a second. The university is a first class institution which attracts top notch students from around the country. As I am now conducting research on land use and welfare in the Brazilian Amazon, I am learning how well known the school is and what a developed network of alumni is has. The school itself is located in a city of 70,000 with an active student body, both politically and socially. Students are dedicated to their studies and many undergraduates work in laboratories and research stations in addition to their classes. For those interested in natural resources or simply a true exchange program, Vicosa is a great place. All my classes are in Portuguese, which though challenging at first, was made possible by helpful professors and peers who are more than willing to show off Brazilian hospitality.

Brazil is incredible country which merits the learning of Portuguese in itself. From the marvelous beaches of Rio de Janeiro, to the exotic flavors of Bahia all the way up the coast to Belem and the Amazon River which stretches into the heart of South America, Brazil enamors those who visit. I’ve been to over 40 countries before and must say none have shown such diversity and zest for life. I’m excited to have the next 7 months ahead of me.