08 – PROFESSOR HERBERT PÖLLMANN ENGAGED ME EARLY IN MANGANESE OXIDES
Ano 09 (2022) – Special Issue on Herbert Artigos
10.31419/ISSN.2594-942X.v92022iSpeciala8BF
Bruno Figueira
UFOPA, Santarém, Pará, brunoufopa@hotmail.com
When I was invited to write a tribute to Professor Herbert Pöllmann to be published as special issue of BOMGEAM dedicated to him, the first thought that came to my mind was how to fit such tremendous influence in my academic and professional life into a short text.
My most vivid memory of this unmatched master was when we met for the first time at the Geoscience Institute at UFPA (Brazil) in early 2005, thanks to Prof. Marcondes and Romulo. I was very unsure about my research topic of my master’s degree. At first I thought about studying a common topic then when I asked him about the theme, he only told me: why not study Mn oxides?!
In such a short time “everything went from darkness to light” and until now, 17 years later, I investigate and deepen my knowledge about Mn oxides, as well as many other subjects investigated by Prof. Poellmann and the colleagues of the GMGA group (UFPA, Brazil) such as geomaterials, LDHs, zeolites, clay minerals.
Prof. Poellmann was and will always be that, a permanent compass to guide me in the challenging mission of teaching/researching with quality and innovation in the Amazon.
He made me understand more than anything that the transfer of knowledge/experience can be seen as the constant construction of a “chain of good” through the ethical transfer of knowledge from one to another, and that it depends on us to keep this chain unbroken.
On the left figure the Working Group (Mineralogie/Geochemie) of Prof. Herbert, in which I was included; and the one on the left Herbert and I enjoying a delicious beer and a glass of wine, respectively
