Néstor García (volcanologist)

Néstor García (* 1954 in Manizales ; † January 14, 1993 at Galeras ) was a Colombian volcanologist , geochemist and industrial chemist with a doctorate .

Life

Coming from a middle-class family, García studied chemical engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in his hometown . During his studies he was already fascinated by the nearby Nevado del Ruiz and often climbed it with fellow students. After graduating in 1979, like many Colombian academics, he was unable to find a full-time job and therefore often commuted between several employers. First he found employment with the state hydroelectric company in his hometown. She sent him several times to Nevado del Ruiz to check its geothermal potential and finally to New Zealand for a year to find out about the volcanically fed geothermal power plants there. Even after his return, he and colleagues often carried out investigations on the Nevado del Ruiz with colleagues - initially at his own expense in his spare time - and was one of the scientists who intensively monitored and studied the volcano in advance of its devastating eruption. He was also the Colombian scientist who most emphatically and frequently advised local authorities of the need for an evacuation plan for Armero . In the following years he was in close professional contact with the local observatory . In this context he also met the American volcanologist Stanley N. Williams , with whom he subsequently became a close friend.

To secure the financial situation of his family, García also worked as a chemist for a distillery since 1983 . In order not to lose sight of volcanology, he also took a part-time position as a lecturer in geology and chemical engineering at his former university in 1986.

In January 1993 he took part in a week-long IAVCEI conference in Pasto , Colombia . The aim was to develop geochemical and geophysical monitoring programs for the nearby Galeras volcano . Although this had been active since 1988, it had been stable and calm for the previous six months. During the conference, an international team of several scientists and interested laypeople set out for the volcano's crater. The researchers split up into several groups, García and colleagues carried out measurements in the summit region and at the crater rim. Shortly after 1.30 p.m. there was a small but extremely violent eruption that lasted just under 15 minutes without warning. Néstor García was killed along with five other researchers ( Geoff Brown , Fernando Cuenca , Carlos Trujillo , Igor Menjailow and José Arlés Zapata ) and three tourists.

He left behind his wife Dolores, whom he married in 1973. The couple had been separated since 1986 and had children, Paula and Marcello.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network (Special Announcements) ( Memento of May 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: volcano.si.edu. ( Smithsonian Institution ). Retrieved April 4, 2010.
2. ↑ Surviving Galeras. Book launch on houghtonmifflinbooks.com ( Houghton Mifflin ). Retrieved April 3, 2010.
3. ^ Stanley N. Williams , Fen Montaigne: Surviving Galeras. Houghton Mifflin, Boston 2001, ISBN 978-0-618-03168-9 , pages 86-90.