Job Type
Teaching/Education
Research
Subject Area
Climatology, Meteorology
Physical Oceanography
Activities
Dr. Vargas is a physical oceanographer in the Department of Physics at
Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Costa Rica. He is a physicist by training
and has a master’s degree in coastal geosciences and engineering and a
doctorate degree in physical oceanography. His interests and expertise
are in climate variability at several time scales, ocean and climate
dynamics and near-shore and coastal dynamics. Dr. Vargas is the director
of International Ocean Institute in Costa Rica (IOI-CR), vice-principal of
Department of Physics and an active researcher in the Laboratory of
Coastal Oceanography and Management (LAOCOS) and Regional Service of
Oceanography Information in the Department of Physics. He currently
leads a research project in the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica to
characterise the hydrography and circulation using observations and
numerical models. He also studies the ocean circulation and seasonal
variability of oceanic and atmospheric dynamic variables in the Santa
Elena Bay in the Northwest Pacific of Costa Rica.
Dr. Vargas, as IOI-CR director, co-organises annually a training
course of Ocean Governance, Ocean Science and Geoethics together with IOI – Brazil
and organises annual events such as ocean-academy courses, seminars for celebrating
the World Ocean Day, among other activities related to ocean science.
Skills
Fully proficient on Linux, Unix
and Windows environments. Experience with Latex, Mathematica, Python, Fortran,
IDL, TeraScan, ArcGIS, Surfer, Matlab.
Experience processing and
analyzing oceanographic and meteorological data from observations, models,
reanalysis products and remote sensing data from satellites.
Experience operating
oceanographic and meteorological instruments such as: CTD, ADP, ADCP, propeller
velocity meters, echo sounder, side scan sonar and meteorological stations.
Experience using hydrodynamics
and sediment transport models for coastal applications such us DELFT3D (WL
Delft Hydraulics) and ECOM.
Oceanographic surveys: North Sea
coast, Büsum, Germany. Hydrographic surveys along Submarine Ridges in the
Pacific continental shelf of Galapagos Island and Coco Island (November 04 -
27, 2015 and January 21 - February 17, 2017). Multiple surveys in coastal
waters in the Pacific and Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.