Christophe NEVADO: Cristal collectif du CNRS
In 2018, the CNRS is awarding a new distinction, the Cristal collectif, which rewards teams of engineers and technicians for their innovative or outstanding collective technical project.
Nothing predestined Christophe Nevado (Faculty of Science - Geosciences Laboratory) to become a lithopreparator. He fell into it by chance and a vocation was born.
Lithopreparation is a rare and little-known profession in geology. It involves preparing 30-micron-thick rocks glued to glass slides, by taking samples which, when reworked, have a flat, shiny surface. These preparations are used to determine the rock's constitution and genesis, prior to classification.
This manual craft is not taught in a school curriculum. It ispassed onbyword of mouth and gesture alone (compagnonnage mode). There are only 45lithopreparators inFrance, including 2in Montpellier. The profession is practiced in universities or research laboratories.
At the initiative of the agents, they joined forces at national level, within the
to share their experiences, the importance and rarity of their trade, and their skills and thoughts on these fine techniques. Surprising as it may seem,the profession is becoming more feminine nationwide. Within theGeosciences Montpellier and DE TEEDoriane shares this artisanal specialty with Christophe.
On March 12, 2019, the 4 members of this network's board received the Cristal Collectif, the highest distinction awarded by the CNRS to technical staff working in Mixed Units. We congratulate them all, and hope that the network of lithopreparators in France will be able to perpetuate this know-how and pass it on to the younger generation!
=> More about the 2018 winners:http://www.cnrs.fr/fr/cnrsinfo/cristal-collectif-du-cnrs