About the Authors
Dr. Amélia João Fernandes obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, completed a Master of Science thesis on ductile deformation of Precambrian rocks, and completed a Doctor of Philosophy thesis at the University of São Paulo-USP, Brazil on brittle deformation and the production of wells in fractured aquifers. She joined the Geological Institute in 1988 as a researcher and had sabbatical leaves in Canada at the universities of Waterloo, Québec at Chicoutimi, and Calgary. She has mostly dedicated herself to the application of structural geology in the characterization of fractured aquifers, carrying out and coordinating projects mainly in the context of Precambrian crystalline rocks and Cretaceous basalts. In addition, she also teaches and advises graduate students at the Geosciences Institute-USP. She has increasingly been dedicating herself to the transfer of knowledge on groundwater to the watershed committees of the state of São Paulo, Brazil.
Dr. Alain Rouleau obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering geology and completed a Master of Science thesis in structural geology, both at Laval University in Québec City. He was a geological consultant for a few years before completing his Doctorate at the University of Waterloo in 1984 with a thesis dealing with fracture characterization and groundwater flow modeling in hard rock. After two years conducting research at Environment Canada, he joined the University of Québec at Chicoutimi (UQAC) in 1986 as a professor, where he has been teaching, servicing communities, and conducting research. He has participated in field research on five continents. As emeritus professor at UQAC since 2016, he continues to pursue research in hydrogeology and fracture system characterization in rock. Current endeavors also include efforts to make hydrogeological knowledge widely available and effectively used in environmental and land management issues.
Dr. Eurípedes A. Vargas Jr. graduated in civil engineering at São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo. He subsequently obtained a Master of Science degree in geotechnical engineering at the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro. In 1975, he joined the Faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at the same university. In 1977, he was admitted in the Rock Mechanics Section of the Royal School of Mines of Imperial College, London, to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy program in rock mechanics, which he completed in 1982. The research topic of his dissertation was numerical modeling of coupled hydromechanics problems in fractured media. Upon returning to his position at Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, besides teaching basic rock mechanics courses, he has continued to conduct research in experimental and numerical topics in rock mechanics, with particular interest in the analysis of hydromechanics problems in fractured media. Current research also includes modeling the genesis of geological structures such as faults and joints.