Dr Carlos Alberto Rinaldi died in Bariloche, Argentina, on Monday August 14th at the age of 86.
Born in Buenos Aires on October 20th, 1930, he received his PhD in Natural Sciences (oriented to Geology) from the Buenos Aires University in 1964.
Between 1956 and 1971 he worked in the Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CONEA) and from 1981 onwards carried out scientific research in the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). He was also full Professor in the Buenos Aires University (UBA).
Dr Rinaldi started his Antarctic research in 1972, leading national and international teams mainly to the James Ross Island area in NW Weddell Sea.
He was designated Director of the Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA) from 1985 until 2001. As such, he was part of the national delegations to many Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM), Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and Reuniones de Administradores de Programas Antárticos Latinoamericanos (RAPAL) meetings and was the Argentinian National Delegate to SCAR. Dr Rinaldi was elected SCAR Vice-President in 1990 and organized the 1992 SCAR meeting in Bariloche.
As IAA Director, he was committed to opening the Argentine Antarctic programme to young researchers, new research lines and to international cooperation. Under his leadership, Argentina started many enduring collaborative projects, such as the Argentine-Italian Antarctic Seismological Network, the joint Argentine-German Dallmann Laboratory and a network of joint Argentine-Spanish observatories on CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
Dr Rinaldi retired from the IAA, CONICET and UBA in 2001, having directed six PhD and 29 MSc theses and published more than 100 papers.
Carlos Rinaldi was a person with a strong national sense, and he held family and friendship as top values. He was respected by colleagues and was very much appreciated for his sense of humour and his taste for good food and wine, all of them inherited from his (southern) Italian ancestors.
Dr Rinaldi, ¨Doc¨ or ¨el Gordo¨ was a very active person in all aspects of his life, from family to politics, and of course science. No person was indifferent to his acts and thoughts. His many friends and old disciples are going to miss him. The Argentine Antarctic Program, especially the Instituto Antártico Argentino, owes him a special acknowledgment.