Biologist Jorge Paiva is the next guest in the “Horizons of the Future” cycle scheduled for this Thursday, May 25, from 21 pm, in the Main Hall of the Town Hall of Loulé. The presentation will be about “The Plants in the Poetic Work of Camões (epic and lyrical)” and the session will be moderated by the landscape architect Fernando Santos Pessoa.
In this lecture, some of the most unusual plants mentioned in “Os Lusíadas” and practically all those mentioned in the Lírica will be discussed. In fact, it is in “Os Lusíadas” that the poet mentions more plants (about five dozen), mostly Asian and aromatic. In the Lírica he mentions much fewer species of plants (about three and a half dozen), mostly European country and ornamental plants.
Jorge Paiva holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Coimbra and a PhD in Biology from the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Vigo (Spain). Retired, he was principal investigator at the Department of Botany at the University of Coimbra, where he taught some subjects, having also taught, as a visiting professor, at several universities in the country and Spain.
As a fellow of the National Institute for Scientific Research, he worked for three years in London at Kew Gardens and in the Natural History Section of the British Museum. As a phytotaxonomist he has traveled throughout Europe, particularly the Iberian Peninsula, Macaronesian Islands, Africa, South America and Asia, having also visited Australia.
He belonged to the Editorial and Editorial Commission of Flora Ibérica (Portugal and Spain) and Flora de Cabo Verde, as well as of some scientific journals. He has integrated international groups of researchers in studies and collection of field material, not only in the Iberian Peninsula, but also in African, Asian and American countries.
Of the taxonomy works in which he collaborated as a co-author, the “Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Nord du Maroc” was awarded by OPTIMA (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area) with the Silver Medal, as the best work on Flora Mediterranean, published in 2003.
As a palynologist, he collaborated with beekeeping organizations and with the Pneumology Services of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, having distinguished two of the works he prepared in collaboration with the clinical staff of this Faculty with the 1st Prize of the Portuguese Society of Respiratory Pathology.
As an environmentalist, he is well known for his uncompromising defense of the environment, being an active member of several national and foreign associations and commissions. She was distinguished, in 1993, with the “National” Award from Quercus (National Association for Nature Conservation); in 2005, with the “Career” Award from the National Confederation of Associations for the Defense of the Environment; in 2005, with the “Friends of Prosepe” Award by Prosepe (School Population Awareness Project) and in 2001 and 2002, with honorable mentions in the respective National Environmental Awards “Fernando Pereira”, conferred by the National Confederation of Defense Associations of the Environment.
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