Uepa opens room in the Bioeconomy Park showcasing Amazonian research and knowledge

With two exhibitions, which can be seen by the public until Friday (21) - "Biodiversity and Bioculturality" and "Uepa's Graduate Programs and Knowledge Construction in the Amazon" - the State University of Pará (Uepa) opened Expo Uepa, in Room 7 of the Bioeconomy and Innovation Park of the Amazon, this Monday (17).

Elements of Amazonian biodiversity are presented after a curation process, conducted by Professor Flávia Lucas, coordinator of the MFS Herbarium, along with a group of scholarship students and volunteers from undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs.

The Biodiversity and Bioculturality exhibition brings together specimens from the MFS Herbarium collection of Uepa and offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the plant raw materials of Amazonian biodiversity, processes, and products developed from them, while also addressing concerns for traditional communities and their knowledge.

Professor Flávia Lucas contextualizes the exhibition, emphasizing that "the Casa de Miriti, for example, represents the home of the artisan Seu Beto, from Abaetetuba, who lived in the island region." The exhibition also includes the ubuçu straw (also called tururi) and the miriti sponge covering the house, as well as the clay used in the construction.

The exhibition does not limit itself to presenting isolated objects, showcasing research results. In the section related to biodiversity, materials collected in the influence area of the Xingu River were included, resulting from six years of studies in the region. The team responsible for selecting the materials sought to integrate research knowledge with the knowledge of communities and indigenous peoples, through the display of items such as baskets and the rain stick, which is part of a doctoral study. "The goal is to promote this partnership between the university and the communities," added the professor.

Sustainable technology - The exhibition "Uepa's Graduate Programs and Knowledge Construction in the Amazon" provides visitors with information and productions from Uepa's Graduate Programs, as well as intellectual property assets based on materials from sociobiodiversity and sustainable local technological development.

The space in the Bioeconomy Park also allows the public to get closer to the research behind a product. This occurs both in relation to andiroba oil, which in the exhibition appears with information about production, origin, ecosystem, and involved community, as well as in relation to low-cost simulators developed by master's students from the Graduate Program in Surgery and Experimental Research (PPGCIPPE), including neonatologist Lêda Lima da Silva, currently a doctoral student in the Graduate Program in Health Education in the Amazon (PPGESA).

"In the management of patients or in the health area or by doctors. From that time, around the year 2000, simulators began to be developed. However, these simulators are currently very expensive, sometimes out of our reality. The goal of our program is to create more accessible, more affordable simulators so that students can practice these procedures. During our master's program, we created six simulators. The seventh was created by a colleague. We also used the idea of other colleagues, which was refined throughout the research. There were seven simulators to help babies. Here we have a surgery simulator, an anesthesia simulator, and three for newborns. Three simulators specifically for neurology, which is my area. All these simulators, these educational technologies, went through the validation process for specialists," the specialist reported.

Lêda Lima da Silva added that "10 surgeons, 10 anesthesiologists, and 10 pediatricians validated the simulators and said they are ready to be used in teaching."

Expo Uepa is an opportunity to closely observe the knowledge produced in the Amazon, especially in Pará.

Service: Expo Uepa - "Biodiversity and Bioculturality" and "Uepa's Graduate Programs and Knowledge Construction in the Amazon." Until November 21 (Friday), at the Bioeconomy and Innovation Park of the Amazon, in Warehouse 5 of Porto Futuro, Warehouse 6A - Avenida Marechal Hermes, Bairro do Reduto.
Hours: from 9 am to 7 pm, from November 18 to 21.