Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Italian researchers work with Tech as part of agreement

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, aduncan@dchieftain.com

Two Italian hydrology researchers have spent the last several months working at New Mexico Tech and getting used to American culture.

Giuseppe Mascaro, doctoral student in hydrology, and Francesco Di Benedetto, civil engineer doing post-graduate research, have worked on hydrological modeling with Tech's assistant professor of Hydrology, Enrique Vivoni.

Their visit is part of a three-year agreement between Tech and the Honors Center of Italian Universities to work together on research and academics and to exchange students and faculty. The agreement began in April 2005.

Mascaro, who is from the island of Sardinia off the west coast of Italy, said his six-month stay in Socorro started at the end of January.

He has been working to link Vivoni's hydrological modeling with his Italian adviser's research of statistical characteristics of precipitation. Mascaro took data on Oklahoma precipitation from the National Weather Service Web site, generated synthetic precipitation fields and applied them to a hydrological model to predict floods.

He and Di Benedetto also participated in a 14-day research trip to Sonora, Mexico, where they collected information about precipitation and soil moisture to study the Mexican monsoon.

Di Benedetto arrived in Socorro from Rome in March and intends to leave in August.

He has been continuing work on his thesis after graduating with what amounts to a combination of the American bachelor's and master's degrees. Vivoni was interested in Di Benedetto's hydrological model, so they pooled their abilities.

Di Benedetto has been applying a model of how the shape of terrain affects runoff and absorption of precipitation into the groundwater system. He has worked to link Vivoni's hydrological modeling with his Italian adviser's erosion model.

Vivoni said working with Mascaro and Di Benedetto was a delight.

"Both Giuseppe and Francesco came to us with excellent recommendations and with solid backgrounds in hydrologic science and engineering," Vivoni said in an e-mail. "In the short time that they have been at New Mexico Tech, both have added considerable knowledge and expertise to the Hydrology Program."

He believes those in the program have greatly benefited from their research activities, individual personalities and cultural exchanges with students.

The Italians, who have both worked as civil engineering hydrology consultants, said they've learned from their work.

Mascaro said Italy has little money available for research. Because of this and his small university, he worked alone there. However, he collaborated with many people in Socorro.

The researchers willingly compared their experience of American culture to Italian lifestyles.

"The first impression was that I haven't seen people walking compared to Italy," Mascaro said.

In Italy, people want to be outside, but in Socorro, they drive. However, he said this isn't the case in New York.

He and Di Benedetto, who lived together with a third roommate, had to buy a car because Socorro didn't have the public transportation he expected.

Both Italians both remarked on New Mexico's open spaces.

"You have a lot of space here," said Di Benedetto.

To him, Americans have big yards, big cars and so on. He said he and Mascaro couldn't imagine such large vehicles in Italy.

Mascaro said Italy is crowded and rarely has sparsely populated areas such as those between Albuquerque and Socorro.

"Here all the people were very friendly," he also said.

Di Benedetto said in Socorro people thought only about their university life. In Italy, he said, people separate their work life from their "life to live."

"I'm not saying it's wrong or it's right," he said. "It's different."

He also spoke of the different food New Mexico offers.

"It was a problem in the beginning," he said.

The lack of time to cook at times gave the pair opportunities to sample American brands and spices. Di Benedetto likes the spicy food, but Mascaro is allergic to it.

Also, Di Benedetto suggested that bars close later, around 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., because of the hour drive to get to those in Albuquerque.

He and Mascaro agreed they had integrated themselves into American life, conforming their habits to those of Socorro residents.

Mascaro said he is working on his English.

"I cannot say I speak English well," he said. "But I can read without problems."

His Spanish has also improved.

Upon returning to Italy, Mascaro plans to finish his doctorate in 2008. He hopes to do post-doctoral studies or become a university researcher.

Di Benedetto intends to return to the job he had before coming to the United States or find another. He doesn't plan to do more research.

Vivoni mentioned plans to continue working with both after they return to Italy.

Finally, Di Benedetto and Mascaro thanked their roommate, who is also their landlord, for his support.s

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