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LABORATORIO DE FISICA DE LA ATMOSFERA | |
Universidad Mayor de San Andrés - La Paz Bolivia |
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LABORATORIO DE FISICA DE LA ATMOSFERA | |
Universidad Mayor de San Andrés - La Paz Bolivia |
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PEOPLE
The personnel of the Atmospheric Physics Laboratory (Laboratorio de Fisica de la Atmosfera) within the Physics Department of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) is made up of professionals from diverse areas of physics many of whom are former UMSA students.
Director, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics : Francesco Zaratti Sacchetti.
Originally from Rome, Italy (b.1947), Francesco Zaratti obtained his doctorate in Statistical Physics applied to Astrophysics at the University degli Studi di Roma (now La Sapienza), during the height of the Student Movement of 1968.
In 1973 he joined an international co-operative project working in Bolivia and has remained in Bolivia ever since. He has been a lecturer at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) of La Paz since 1974, where he has dedicated his time to teaching and University Reform. He has held the post of Director of the University Planetarium and Observatory for a number of years and has also been active in promoting and popularising astronomy amongst young people and the media. Francesco Zaratti amongst his many achievements is author of a number of school and universtiy physics textbooks. In addition he is a regular contributor to a number of national newspapers commenting on scientific and social issues.
Eduardo R. Palenque was born in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1961. His life began just in time to see the dawn of the Spatial Era, which for him started with Gagarin's flight. At the end of his school days in La Paz, Eduardo's scientific vocation won over his love for the arts. However, his pursuit of a Physics career has not prevented him from participating in the local literary circuit, where he is better known as Ruy Dizle. His scientific career began at the Physics Department of UMSA, where he set-up and led studies on superconductivity. Some time later he took up a position in the Mathematics Department, and subsequently he went abroad to pursue postgraduate studies (M.Phil.,1994 and Ph.D.,1996) at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Today he is a researcher (with teaching duties) at the "Laboratorio de Física de la Atmósfera" (Atmospheric Physics Laboratory - UMSA) where he dedicates his time to the generation of interdisciplinary studies and contacts. In addition he is co-editor of the "Revista Boliviana de Física" (Bolivian Journal of Physics), and heads the organising committee of the Olympiad of Physics (at local, national and continental level). Eduardo also finds time to act as Secretary of the "Sociedad Boliviana de Física (SOBOFI)" (Bolivian Physics Society).
On a more personal level Eduardo is known as a compulsive bibliophile and amateur philogist. He reads in many languages and is currently adding another to his repertoire. Of vices, he is an extremely heavy coffee-drinker and chocolate-eater.
Marcos Andrade was born in 1966, La Paz, Bolivia. He spent his University years at UMSA where he graduated in Physics and produced his thesis entitled "The Design and Development of a Carbon Dioxide Laser". His work for the dissertation gained him a prize in the Science and Research Expo-UMSA in 1993. He joined the Physics Department of UMSA in ??? and later became co-founder of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics (formerly referred to as the Laboratory of Ozone and RUV) at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at UMSA and is co-author of a number of scientific articles. He is currently studying for his Doctorate at the Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland in the United States.
Ricardo Forno was born on the 21st October 1965 in the City of La Paz, Bolivia. He studied at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and in 1991 graduated in Physics with the thesis entitled "The Design and Development of a Carbon Dioxide Laser". Ricardo Forno currently teaches experiemental physics and is a researcher within the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics within UMSA.
In his spare time he is a science fiction fan (Star Trekker!!) and also likes to play billiards. His greatest vice however is smoking.
René Torrez studied, 1974-1982, at the UMSA where he obtained a B.Sc in Physics. He later specialised in Energy Technology Systems at the Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá-Colombia). He then completed a Masters in Environmental Pollution at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. During his professional career in Physics he has worked in a number of universities and scientific organisations within Bolivia and has written and edited many papers of scientific and social interest, including contributions to the Nuclear Technology Institute of Bolivia (Instituto Boliviano de Tecnología Nuclear - IBTEN). He is currently a senior lecturer within the Physics Department of UMSA and he is in charge of research within the meteorological area of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics.
Luis Blacutt was born on the 3rd of September 1971 at La Paz, Bolivia. Since he was born, he has shown a large appetite for the first of his vices: cookies. The second vice will delay 5 years to notice, because he had borne without the knowledge to read. Advertising-researcher he thinks that it's not enough founding the knowledge but you must know how to mark the way to cheer up the people behind you to follow this exciting path. Born again on May 10th of 1991, since that date he is sure that on paradise there are scientists, books and cookies. He can read a dead language: Classic Greek and even sing in another: Hebrew. But he speaks English and it's as understandable as when he reads or sings. One of his favorite hobbies is watch movies. Currently, he is lecturer at the Atmosphere Physics Laboratory studying the effects of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation.
Flavio Ghezzi
Flavio Ghezzi was born in Oruro, Bolivia, in 1965. His academic studies were achieved in the United Kingdom. He obtained a Joint Honours B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics and also a Diploma in Medical Physics specialising in Ultrasound, at the University of Aberdeen.. Followed by an M.Sc. in Mathematical Physics at the University of Southampton (thesis: the optical Frederiks transition in liquid crystals). In 1998 he was awarded a Ph.D. for his research in Experimental studies of two-dimensional colloidal systems at the Queen´s University, Belfast. Currently, he is a lecturer in the Physics Department at the UMSA where his research interests are stratospheric ozone and aerosols.
Juan García was born in the city of Cochabamba on the 27th of June 1968. He graduated from Don Bosco School (Cochabamba) and then completed his University studies at the Physics Department of UMSA. He is currently teaching within the Physics Department UMSA and researching on intercalibration processes for UV radiation measuring equipment.
René Gutiérrez was born on the 15th of December 1975. Starting during his early studies at school he showed a particular ability in mathematics and achieved sucess in the Scientific Olympics. During his university undergraduate studies at the Physics Department of UMSA he achieved merit for his performance during the academic years 95-96 and 97-98. He worked for his graduate thesis at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics where he looked after the CO2 measuring equipment. During his spare time he likes to mix music such as WAV, MP3 and in particular Techno. He is currently teaching within the Physics Department UMSA and in research is working on atmospheric pollution and climate change; measuring CO2 and CO.
Gonzalo Gutiérrez was born in Cochabamba on the 18th of June 1949. He obtained his further education at the Universidad Técnica in Oruro and then in UMSA within the Department of Civil Engineering. His working life began in 1975 at the Institute of Physics Research and then Geophysics and today he is in charge of the maintenance of equipment and instruments at the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics. When not working as a technician he can be found winning raquet ball tournaments.