My research focuses on understanding the role of water vapor and clouds on the climate system and how it might be changed by anthropogenic influences. My interests also include biosphere-atmosphere interactions and, particularly, large-scale water vapor transport and the importance of the Amazon forest for moisture recycling and the global hydrological cycle. I have worked with physical parameterizations in climate models, particularly radiation and convection, and the development of Earth System Models.

Prior to joining UMBC, I was a professor of Physics at the Physics Institute at the University of Sao Paulo, where I served as the head of the Applied Physics Department. I’ve spent some time as a visiting professor at the University of Granada – Spain, the University of Maryland Baltimore County – USA, and the University of Manchester – UK. I started as a postdoctoral fellow at the Brazilian Institute for Space Research for three years, where I later worked as an assistant researcher. I have a PhD in Physics from the State University of Campinas, Brazil. My PhD was in experimental astrophysics, and I studied the propagation of Nitrogen fluorescence light in the atmosphere as a technique to measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.