1. Tell us about your basic background? Where did you come from, former education, former jobs.

I received my bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. My department was based at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, which had a thriving commodity markets research and extension community. Toward the end of my degree, I became very interested in the area, and when I thought about applying to graduate school, UIUC seemed like the ideal place. I was immensely lucky for having them accepting me and for having spent the next seven years of my life there!

2. What was the research you performed while at OFOR?

My research during my MS and early into my PhD focused on the measurement of liquidity costs in financial markets. At the time, several liquidity cost estimators were popular in equities and began being applied to other asset classes. However, they seemed to perform poorly in commodity futures, for example. Trying to answer why and how to do better ended up revealing broader issues with these measures, both theoretically and at an empirical level. As I started writing my dissertation, the role of technologies and microstructure design in determining trading behavior and shaping the investment industry became my main research areas. These topics really caught my interest following a trip organized by OFOR to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange where we visited nearly deactivated trading pits – once the heart of financial markets before computers dramatically changed trading infrastructure.

3. Where are you currently working? What are your main responsibilities?

I am currently a postdoctoral research scholar at the Department of Economics at Columbia University. I also teach the financial economics elective course at our MA program in economics.

4. How did OFOR contribute to your development as a scientist and as a person?

OFOR was a wonderful support and learning environment. The group carries a lot of history and tradition, and I was always fascinated with stories faculty told about previous OFOR researchers. Faculty within the group are very generous with their time, advice, and funding. Financial research is expensive because most data we use is not publicly available. This can really be a limiting factor, not only because of funding availability, but because you need faculty to believe in your research idea, or help you tailor it the best way possible, to pre-commit resources. This is exactly the environment at OFOR, where faculty work really closely with students and with one-another. It is hard to think of a better place to learn about commodity markets and do research in the area.

5 .What is one memory about OFOR you carried with you?

I just loved entering the “OFOR hallway” – the section within Mumford Hall where OFOR faculty have their offices. You just never knew what was going to happen, other than it would be a great experience. Many times, I went there to talk to my advisor Scott Irwin, and we ended up at someone else’s office or sometimes gathering multiple people to talk about a specific research problem, academic life, and anything in-between. For me, this captures the wonderful collaborative environment within the group, the kindness of faculty with their time – doors were always open! – and how intellectual exchange makes academia a much more vibrant community.