Antônio Alves Meira Neto might not be a civil engineer today without encouragement from his high school physics instructor and the mentorship of a professor in the field. Now Meira, a new professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, hopes to help his students navigate their unique paths.
Although reluctant to pursue civil engineering as an undergraduate student, Meira ultimately discovered a passion for hydrology.
“Water is a universal good we want to understand and protect,” said Meira. “It has such a societal impact.”
Meira will study the human impact on hydrology in both natural and urban settings. He also seeks to pursue interdisciplinary research where hydrology meets other fields, such as earth sciences.
Game-changing scholarship
In 2012, the government in Brazil invested significant funds into scholarships for students to study abroad and then return to Brazil. Meira was the recipient of such an award, which he used to earn a PhD in hydrology from the University of Arizona.
“I am very lucky honestly. I was determined to be a hydrologist and to be the best I could be by all means,” said Meira. “The scholarship opened doors for me. It allowed students from a developing country to study at a high-level institution.”
Meira considered pursuing his PhD in Europe but was drawn to the U.S. due to the geographic and climatic similarities with Brazil. After completing his degree, he returned to Brazil to fulfill the conditions of his scholarship, then later returned to the University of Arizona as a postdoc.
Brazil’s CSU connection
Meira jumped at the opportunity when he was offered a faculty position at Colorado State. “CSU’s geographical location at the front range of the Rocky Mountains is great for research,” he said.
Meira also recalled a faculty mentor sharing that he had applied to CSU in the 1980s to earn his PhD, and was devastated when he was not accepted. His mentor went on to earn his PhD from Princeton.
“The civil and environmental engineering department has a long history of hydrology,” said Meira. “In the 1970s, Brazil did not have many experts in hydrology. The government began sending students abroad to receive the best education possible in hydrological sciences, and many of them came to CSU. They returned to Brazil and trained the next generation of hydrologists.”
That generation included Meira.
It’s a small world after all
When Meira was an undergraduate student in Brazil, CSU alum Carlos Tucci (PhD, 1979) was the most renowned hydrology expert in the country, and even authored the textbooks Meira used in his hydrologic studies.
Meira was also inspired by Jerson Kelman, who obtained his PhD at CSU in 1977, under Professor Vujica Yevjevich, world-famous hydrologist and the “father of stochastic hydrology.” Kelman is a former President of both the Brazilian National Water and Sanitation Agency and the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency.
When Meira interviewed for his faculty position, he visited with current CEE Professor Neil Grigg who has been a faculty member at CSU since 1972 and earned his PhD in hydraulic engineering in 1969.
Grigg remembered both Tucci and Kelman from their days as PhD students at CSU.
CSU influenced the educators and professionals who inspired Meira. Now Meira looks forward to educating the next generation at CSU.
“The world works in funny ways for me to end up here at CSU.”
