César C. Martins

I am currently an Associate Professor in the Center of Marine Studies at the Federal University of Paraná (one of the top 10 universities in Brazil) lecturing several undergraduate courses, in particular in the Oceanography Program, and graduate courses in the Ph.D./M.Sc. programmes in Coastal and Oceanic Systems. My main research fields are related to marine organic geochemistry and environmental pollution involving questions about production and transport of organic matter in marine ecosystems, natural and anthropogenic organic markers in the marine environment, organic geochemistry of modern and ancient sediments, environmental pollutants and applications of biomarkers in petroleum geochemistry, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Since I started my MSc research project in 1999, I have been studying, under a molecular and multiproxy perspective, different classes of organic markers to understand the input and sources of organic matter in several environmental compartments. My main interest is to recognize signals of anthropogenic activities in different places worldwide (including Antarctica) that are under high/low perturbation, and under different climatic conditions, using specific organic compounds that can be used as markers of changes in the ocean system. I have particularly dedicated my efforts to reconstruct the history of organic pollutants (PAHs, PCBs, pesticides, and PBDEs) in coastal areas along the Anthropocene and to purpose/calibrate proxies to reach improved strategies to identify marine pollution caused by sewage and petroleum and their by-products in regional and global perspectives. I have also collaborated with Biological Oceanographers from different Brazilian institutions in studies about the effect of organic pollutants in the marine fauna. In addition, I have helped Geological Oceanographers with the analysis of distinct organic biomarkers (such as GDGTs, alkenones, sterols, long chain diols, n-alkanes, and n-alkanols) for a better comprehension of the SST variation, marine paleoproductivity, and terrestrial organic input responses under climate changes during the Quaternary (with the main focus on the Late Pleistocene until modern ages). My analytical experience includes several years working with gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), which led me to establish the “Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Marine Pollution” (LaGPoM) at my current university; this laboratory and team have achieved a significant notoriety among regional and national scientific communities that can be expressed by the many awarded research grants in the last 10 years. Another important aspect of my academic background is related to my dedication as a supervisor of undergraduate and graduate students. The majority of my supervised students who chose to follow the academic track have produced high-quality publications and reached remarkable professional positions in Brazil (e.g., as an Assistant Professor, granted funding for a Ph.D. project) and abroad (e.g., in Ph.D. Ocean Science Programmes in European institutions). Some of my supervised students chose to pursue non-academic positions and are currently employed as environmental analysts in private and government institutions. My experience in the institutional administration field can be summarized by the 4-years period as the Head of the Coastal and Marine Systems Graduate Program at the Center of Marine Studies when I had the opportunity to manage and coordinate the activities of 20 supervisors and 45 Ph.D./M.Sc. graduate students.