The IODP - Capes/Brazil program was launched on Wednesday 8, which confirms Brazil's adhesion to the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The IODP is an international marine research program that uses heavy drilling equipment mounted on board vessels to monitor and take samples from the subsea environment.

Brazil has joined the program as a full member and will have effective participation in training personnel. Brazil's membership will enable those receiving grants through the Science Without Frontiers Program to use IODP scientific facilities. The Coordination for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) will host the program's Brazilian offices. The first expedition with Brazilian researchers should take place in six weeks in the sea off Costa Rica.

Rodey Batiza, a member of the U.S. government agency the National Science Foundation,  stressed the importance of Brazil's entry to the program for scientific development. "We welcome the entry of the Brazilian scientific community at a time when we need the knowledge of Brazilian researchers and engineers, who intend to give the country the lead in drilling research" he said. According to Batiza, this participation brings many opportunities both for Brazil and for the global community.

Having begun in 1958, IODP is the oldest international scientific program dedicated to exploring the history and structure of the Earth. Brazil joins 28 other countries that are already part of the international consortium. "Working internationally is a fantastic experience" said Bradford Clement, a representative of the program and Professor of Geology at Florida International University.

IODP's research documents climate change, biosphere frontiers and Earth movements, which can help to understand phenomena such as earthquakes and tsunamis. "Our expedition vessels are not just floating laboratories, but also floating university", said Clement, who participated in an IODP mission of IODP when he was a graduate student. "It was the most important moment of my development. You are on the side of the world's greatest experts, all thinking about the same problem at the same time", he said.

14 August 2012