I am a physical oceanographer interested in coastal processes with emphasis on wind- and buoyancy-driven flows (e.g. river plumes and freshwater structures over the shelf) and flow over topography (e.g. dynamics in and around submarine canyons). Currently, my research is focused on the circulation and dynamics of the continental shelf (coastal ocean along central-southern Chile) and estuarine systems (e.g. Inner Sea of Chiloé). I use all sorts of observational approaches (moorings, towed hydrographic and velocity sections, satellite images, Argo floats, etc) to carry out my research. Nonetheless, most of the fundamental questions of my work are based on process-oriented numerical experiments which can be applied to many coastal oceans worldwide, especially in eastern ocean boundaries. I strongly believe that for a better understanding of physical processes we need to use several (if not all) observational tools in combination with insightful numerical experiments.
I obtained my PhD in Physical Oceanography at Oregon State University (working in the Glider Group with Kipp Shearman). In my postdoc (working with Susan Allen at the University of British Columbia) I switched gears to work fully on coastal ocean modeling. More info in Biography.
My reasearch is usually highly collaborative. Most of it is linked to the research activities of the Oceanographic Research Center COPAS COASTAL, the FONDAP Research Center IDEAL, and the Millennium Institute SECOS. Part of this research is based on the work I do with graduate and undergraduate students. In that line, I participate teaching and/or as advisor in the following graduate programs: Master in Physics (those following the concentration in Physical Oceanography) and PhD in Engineering at the University of Bio-Bio, and the Master and PhD in Oceanography at the University of Concepción. Finally, I am reviewer in several journals of the discipline such as Ocean Modelling, Journal of Geophysical Research, Ocean Dynamics, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Physical Oceanography, Nature Communications, etc. More info in CV.
Opportunities for students and postdocs
If you are looking for a thesis (undergraduate or graduate level) in coastal physical oceanography and would like to work in on one of the research lines described above, please feel free to shoot me and email to talk about. Additional info on the current research and grants are found in Research and Publications. We are always looking for highly motivated students who wants to join the team, and to publish some cool findings.
Postdoctoral opportunities are mainly based on the funding from ANID through the Fondecyt Postdoctoral Program, which is very competiteve but totally doable if prepared in advanced. For that we need to submit a proposal, and if granted, ANID provides the funding for salary and some opperational costs for three years. The University of Bio-Bio also has an internal postdoctoral program to recruit recent PhDs but this funding is just for a year. It is intented to help new PhD graduates to get things done to prepare another postdoc proposal (e.g. ANID). Sometimes there are also calls for postdocs in the research centers COPAS COASTAL, IDEAL, and SECOS. Please get in touch if you feel we could work together and make synergy.
Cheers!