Mario’s interest in astronomy began when he was an undergraduate student of physics at the Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo in Brazil. His interest solidified when he worked in  educational outreach programs at the Gaturamo Observatorio Astronomico. Subsequently, he earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Astronomy from the Observatorio Nacional, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The focus of his dissertation was in the characterization of the minor body populations using different techniques and developing programming frameworks that would streamline characterization of these populations. He has experience in performing spectroscopic and photometric observations of asteroids with small to large-sized telescopes.