- Gustavo Blanco, Deniz Bozkurt, Duncan Christie, René Garreaud, Patricio Moreno, Ariel Muñoz, Raúl O’Ryan, Axel Osses, Mauricio Osses, Rodrigo Seguel, and Rocío Urrutia-Jalabert lead the research.
- Martín Jacques and Antoine Maillet are co-investigators of two awarded projects.
Researchers from the CR2 Center for Climate Science and Resilience have addressed several topics related to climate variability in Antarctica, biodiversity conservation in the southern Austral region, the impact of drought on Nothofagus species in Chile, and the role of volatile organic compounds in the air quality of the Quintero-Puchuncaví Bay.
These projects were selected by ANID’s Regular Fondecyt competition, which aims to promote scientific-technological research in various areas of knowledge. The competition finances projects that last 2 to 4 years and consist of individual research of excellence oriented to producing knowledge. The Subdirection of Research Projects of the National Agency for Research and Development (Anid) of the Ministry of Science and Technology will finance the selected projects.
Here are some of the projects awarded by CR2 researchers (in alphabetical order of authorship):
“The pluriverses of conservation: exploring modes of coexistence and more-than-human care in southern austral Chile”.
Responsible researcher: Gustavo Blanco (Governance and Science-Policy Interface line).
This transdisciplinary research aims to understand how biodiversity conservation is practiced in South-Austral Chile and establish the interrelationships, effects, and possibilities that emerge from a multi-species perspective. The specific objectives are: 1) To characterize the modes of biodiversity conservation practiced by non-profit organizations in the South-Austral regions of Chile, 2) To record the strategies, methodologies, and modes of attention deployed by organizations in field situations to relate to the more-than-human world in biodiversity conservation processes, 3) To examine transdisciplinary the theoretical and methodological possibilities of posthumanism to address conservation processes and practices in Chile, and 4) To discuss the political scopes of biodiversity conservation that considers multispecies justice.
“Antarctic blocking patterns and extreme weather events: unraveling regional variability and global implications (ABREX)”
Responsible researcher: Deniz Bozkurt (Coastal Zone line).
The study aims to improve our understanding of atmospheric blocking in Antarctica and its implications for global climate by focusing on four key objectives: 1) to analyze the distribution and behavior of blocking patterns using high-resolution atmospheric data, 2) to investigate their role in extreme weather events such as extreme temperature and precipitation variations, 3) to explore their broader impacts on global climate, particularly through air dynamics, and 4) to project future changes in these patterns and their effects under different climate scenarios. In summary, by integrating diverse data sources and methods, the study seeks to deepen our understanding of regional climate variability in Antarctica, its global implications, and the impacts of climate change on weather patterns.
“Dynamics of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt during the last millennium.”
Principal Investigator: Duncan Christie (Water and Extremes line), co-investigator: Martin Jacques (Coastal Zone line).
The research objective is to reconstruct the dynamics of the Southern Hemisphere westerly wind belt during the last millennium using a network of tree-ring records along the Andes. The aim is to determine its main temporal patterns of variability and their links to different large-scale climate forcings.
“The (unexpected) precipitation maximum along the Andes Mountain range”.
Responsible researcher: René Garreaud (Water and Extremes line).
The mean annual precipitation along Chile increases steadily from north to south due to the higher frequency of arrival of frontal systems. However, the highest daily rainfall intensities occur in the foothills of the Andes in central-southern Chile (foothills of the Maule and Ñuble regions), where accumulations above 100 mm/day are not infrequent. The project aims to (1) better describe the distribution of precipitation intensity in the study area, (2) understand the atmospheric circulation during extreme precipitation events, and (2) test the hypothesis on the role of the Andes in the generation of the intensity maximum by conducting numerical experiments. Daily intensity is the key metric for assessing the potential for floods, flash floods, and landslides in the Maule to Biobío regions.
“Holocene climatic/environmental evolution and impacts on Patagonian ecosystems”.
Responsible researcher: Patricio Moreno (Water and Extremes line).
The project aims to understand the patterns, processes, and impacts of past climatic and environmental changes on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their influence on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning on multi-decadal and centennial time scales. To this end, the following actions will be carried out: 1) Study past changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems using microfossils, sedimentary DNA, and other environmental indicators that will be collected from small lakes in Patagonia; 2) Integrate these records with the study of physical/chemical properties of these same sediment cores to examine climate/environmental variability from decadal to centennial time scales, and; 3) Examine possible relationships of our results with the spatial/temporal pattern of human occupations during the Holocene at regional scales.
“From hyper drought to heavy rains: evaluation of changes in the frequency of extreme hydroclimatic events and their impacts on forest ecosystems to support climate risk planning in Chile.”
Principal Researcher: Ariel Muñoz (Water and Extremes line)
The project seeks to improve environmental information for climate risk assessment and integrate it into Chile’s climate action plans. First, it will identify and reconstruct hypersequences in the Mediterranean area and rainfall extremes in Northern Patagonia using historical documents and instrumental and tree ring records. Hypersedrought records will be analyzed to assess the influence of climate variability on forest response and resilience and the vulnerability to drought of different Mediterranean forests. Mass movements will be reconstructed using remote sensing, historical documents, and dendrogeomorphology techniques. By knowing their frequency, the role of rainfall extremes and climate variability in their occurrence will be analyzed, which is important for climate risk assessment in the fjords of northern Patagonia, where an extension of the “Carretera Austral” is planned in the coming years.
“Inverse problems in wave and photon propagation arising in medical imaging and microscopy applications.”
Principal Investigator: Axel Osses (Resilient Cities line)
The objective of this project is to develop a high-level mathematical analysis of inverse problems related to wave propagation and photon transport with two applications that have explosive and interdisciplinary interest in biology, biomedicine, and physics: firstly, elasticity imaging, including elastography, cardiac fibers and geophysical surveying and, secondly, microscopy, including super-resolution microscopy and optical capture. These applications have promoted several new investigations and methods in the mathematical analysis of inverse problems. This includes 1) the development of mathematical models for direct and inverse problems, 2) the performance of theoretical uniqueness and stability analyses, 3) the design of numerical reconstruction algorithms, and IV the validation of these with noisy or real synthetic data from physical experiments.
“The role of volatile organic compounds in the city of Quintero air quality and its downwind impacts.”
Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Seguel (Resilient Cities line)
The study aims to quantify hazardous volatile organic compounds responsible for the generation of air quality episodes in the coastal city of Quintero. The research will also address the contribution of these compounds in the formation of ozone in cities located in inland valleys. This work is expected to provide scientific evidence to support prioritizing and mitigating specific volatile organic compounds, considering sources, reactivity, and impacts on human health.
“Towards a comprehensive understanding of physiological traits and environmental factors associated with drought-induced dieback in Nothofagus species in Chile.”
Principal Investigator: Rocío Urrutia-Jalabert (Land Use Change line)
The main objective of this project is to evaluate environmental factors, plant functional traits, and biotic agents associated with tree dieback, as well as early warning signs of this phenomenon in two Nothofagus species in Chile: Nothofagus dombeyi and Nothofagus pumilio. This research proposes to focus mainly on one study site per species that will include, in each case, a stand affected by dieback and a nearby control stand. The study hopes to contribute key knowledge about the conditions of the sites where the dieback of these species may be more likely to occur so that an adequate spatialization of vulnerable areas can be made in the future.
