Jose Blanco - Biographical Sketch

I am Chilean, raised in Curico, but Valparaiso was my adopted home. Nevertheless all my roots are from La Rioja, Spain, where my family originated. I studied at the Catholic University of Valparaiso obtaining in 1981 the professional title of Physical Oceanographer (Thesis). From 1981 to March 2000 I worked as a physical oceanographer at the Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP-CHILE), a Chilean government research institute for marine and aquaculture research. In May 2000 I moved with my family, to the Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography (CCPO) of the Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia, where I was a PhD candidate in physical oceanography and a research assistant. I defended my thesis in October 2004 and moved to the Universidad del Mar, in Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, in the southern part of Mexico. There I taught Introduction to Physical Oceanography to undergraduate students. In April of 2005 I moved back to the USA becoming a postdoc at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, located in Wallops Island, Virginia. In September 2007 I began as Research Scientist at CCPO, ODU.

During many years, my research work has been the generation, coordination and/or implementation of multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and, in some cases , multinational projects. During my career I have participated in extensive and intensive studies of the physical processes and their variability (ENSO and decadal) in oceanic and coastal water, along the Chilean coast, the South East Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean. Also, I have been working in coastal processes in bays, fjords and estuaries in the central and southern part of Chile and in the Chesapeake Bay. My current research is focused in the Offshore Wind, Wave and Current Environment Characterization as source of energy.

My main research approach is analysis of observations from moored instruments and ship-based surveys. I also have experience with real-time ocean observing systems and remote sensing. Part of my work includes cross-disciplinary analyses of factors affecting water quality and marine resources, using ecosystems and hydrodynamic models, making simulations and determining the carrying capacity of determined activities.

Outside the office I like to cook, fix things, ride my bicycle and take photographs.

NEWS: On August 31st I am leaving the CCPO and heading to the city of Iquique (20°12.15'S - 70° 8.47'W), located Northern Chile, as Research Scientist in to the fisheries company CORPESCA S. A. and as senior consultant of the Northern Fisheries Research Institute (Instituto de Investigación Pesquera del  Norte  S. A.) also in Iquique. I will work in operational models to optimize the anchovy fisheries fleet; study  the environment and pelagic resources for a sustainable fishery; research on new development areas, like land and/or offshore aquaculture and marine renewable energy, etc.