Ricardo Hirata is a Full Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP) and Director at CEPAS|USP (Groundwater Research Center). He is a Geologist, with MSc and DSc (University of São Paulo, USP, Brazil) and Post Doctorate (University of Waterloo, Canada); former member of the Groundwater Management Advisory Team of The World Bank (GW-MATE); adviser for IAEA and UNESCO; and visiting professor at universities of Costa Rica and Calgary (Canada). He also has more than 36-year experience working intensively in more than 25 countries in areas that include groundwater contamination and development and water resource protection policy.