He graduated in Natural History at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) in 1956 to 1959. He completed his doctorate at Harvard University, in Stratigraphic and Paleontology (1977–1978). He was lecturer at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) in 1974.