Grief at student's Amazon murder

Vanessa Sequeira had studied in both Norwich and north Wales

Colleagues have expressed their sadness at the murder of a postgraduate student in the Amazon rainforest.

A former convict has been charged with murdering Portugal-born Vanessa Sequeira, 36, after she was attacked in the remote Brazilian state of Acre.

She was at the University of East Anglia from 1988-1991 and had an MSc from the University of Wales, Bangor.

A Bangor spokesman said staff and students were "extremely distressed" to hear of her death.

Ms Sequeira died on 3 September.

In her last research project, for which she was doing field work in the Amazon, she was studying the sustainability of settlements making use of both their farms and the surrounding jungle.

She was working in the Amazon for the Center for International Forestry Research under the joint supervision of the Bangor university and a research institution in Costa Rica.

I remember her well as a bright vivacious personality, a very special person. Dr Paul Dolman

A Bangor spokesman said: "Staff and students in the university, particularly in her department, the School of Environment and Natural Resources, were extremely distressed to hear of Vanessa's death and have expressed their deepest sympathy to the family."

The university was represented at the funeral last week in Portugal.

According to the Norwich Evening News, a man who had recently completed an 11-year prison term for homicide has been charged with the killing.

The newspaper quoted Inspector Joao Augusto Fernandes as saying: "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"This town is usually very quiet."

Memorial

University of East Anglia lecturer Dr Paul Dolman, who studied with Ms Sequeira, is among those who have paid tribute to her.

"I remember her well as a bright vivacious personality, a very special person.

"The last contact I had with her was in 2000 when she was working in community-based conservation in the Peruvian Amazon.

A memorial organised by the researcher's friends and colleagues will be held on 16 September at Kew Gardens in London where she also worked.