Thalles is an oceanographer who aims to fill the gap between real-world multidisciplinary oceans and applied math and physics, doing both theoretical and field work. Currently, Thalles is a PhD Candidate combining drone surveying with satellite imagery to investigate how waves and sea level rise trigger coastal erosion along reef-fringed coastlines.

An avid autodidact, at 12, he deduced the circle of fifths from musical theory and taught himself how to play the piano and compose. Since this time Thalles has taught himself from over six programming languages to the whole mathematics of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. For this reason – and as Thalles enjoys going deeply into topics and have a diverse spectrum of interests –, he usually draw parallels across disciplines that few people notice (especially in the usefulness and applicability of mathematics… everywhere). As such, Thalles can go from flying solo in writing essays in theoretical fluid mechanics to collaborating with geologists to investigate groundwater flows.

Thalles steadfastly believes more in using current knowledge to collaborate across disciplines (a horizontal approach) than in going deep into one single area to develop new knowledge (a vertical approach). Thalles explains “I absolutely love (!) the art of sharing knowledge clearly and witnessing magical “a-ha” moments. The scientific topic that is the closest to my heart is geophysical fluid mechanics (the flow of oceans, atmosphere, magma, and ice sheets) and I am currently writing a series books on this. Some roles I have filled in the past include: being a military oceanographer at the Brazilian Navy, acting as a course director of a UNESCO online course to four countries, and taking part in scientific expeditions in five countries. Out of work, I am often composing arrangements for rock songs on the piano and I am a divemaster who loves breathing weightless underwater.”