Research Interests

The ultimate purpose of my research is to contribute to better quantifying the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle. I aim at increasing the precision of the carbon export assessments in the oceans via the Biological Carbon Pump (BCP) and the parameterization of the key processes controlling it. To that purpose, I use high resolution underwater cameras, UVP (Underwater Vision Profiler) type, for particle imaging coupled to a novel autonomous platform that acts as a sediment trap. I use these experimental results as input parameters for stochastic simulations of particle dynamics in the ocean.

Namely, I focus on:

1. coupling the understanding of the biological processes obtained from the camera images to algorithms to precisely estimate carbon fluxes, and
2. developing improved global parametrizations of the BCP efficiency and carbon flux attenuation.

I identify these goals as key areas for describing the present and future role of the BCP in global climate models.

Awards

• • Award "People from Andalucía, people 10" from elDiario.es Andalucía. 1st Edition, October 2023.
  • Award "Naturally rural: Woman and Science" Natural Park Sierra Norte of Seville (Spain). 1st edition, March 2022.
• • Award of curricular excellence in teaching and research for the academic year 2020-2021 granted by CEU San Pablo University (Madrid), March 2022.
• • Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions Individual Global Fellowship. Department of Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry (WHOI) and Department of Applied Physics II, (University of Sevilla). Starting date: September 2022. Duration: 3 years.

• • Postdoctoral award at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Ocean Twilight Zone Postdoctoral Scholar. Department of Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry (WHOI). Starting date: June 2021. Duration: 18 months.