Jean-Paul Breuer

About Me

Hello! Thank you for visiting my page. I was born in Niterói (Brazil), right next to the city of Rio de Janeiro. I was a curious and playful child that loved to go to the park dressed like Batman and use my slingshot with my Grandpa to shoot beans at the priest who lived in the church across the street.

When I was around 5.5 years old, my family moved to Detroit, Michigan (USA). We left our extended family in Brazil to experience the classic suburban life and public school system the US is known for. I saw snow for the first time, learned English, and started to discover my love for nature through the scouts and wilderness survival training.

Then, when I was around 11 years old, we moved to Shanghai (China), where I completed my secondary school education at an International School. It was a culture shock I fell in love with. I learned Chinese, became an adventurer on the dining table and made friends from all over the world. Before leaving Asia to study in Europe, I lived for several months in the Bang Phli District of Bangkok (Thailand) where I battled the intense heat and flying snakes that liked to jump from nearby trees onto our roof.

I finally left home to pursue a BSc. in Bremen (Germany). I studied some German, learned about the other half of my culture, and grew my passion for nature, biology, space, and physics. It was here that my Entomology hobby started, as I spent some time exploring and collecting samples from some parts of the Amazon Rainforest.

Right after, I pursued a MSc.Eng. in Copenhagen (Denmark), where in this time I saw much of Scandinavia, including the famous Aurora Borealis. I also had a handful of exciting adventures in the arctic circle, including the island of Svalbard. During this time I founded CopenHacks.

I then took a year off to travel while applying for PhDs. I solo travelled through Chernobyl and most of eastern Europe, went from Cape Town (South Africa) to Nairobi (Kenya) using only public transportation with two friends, and lived and worked on a boat for 6 months in Martinique while sailing around the Caribbean.

I later moved to Brno (Czech Republic) for my Ph.D. studies! I fell in love with Brno and Slovakia, I met my wife, and made many incredible friendships. During this time we also won the Global International Ocean Hackathon, and our team created a start up in the Maritime sector, Vaiata Dynamics.

I recently moved once more, and just began a new position of Assistant Professor at Hiroshima University in Hiroshima (Japan).

Throughout my education I've also had the pleasure of having several visits and research stays in Manaus (Brazil), Munich (Germany), Greenbelt, Maryland (USA), Granada (Spain), and San Pedro de Atacama (Chile).