The plan will allow for early warnings to be generated for management in ports or docks, as well as for the preparation of future impact scenarios related to tidal waves, temperature changes, red tides, other phenomena, in the context of climate change.
The COPAS Oceanographic Research Center, with its nearly two decades of excellence in the development of science and research, has positioned itself as one of the relevant scientific institutions in the field of oceanography. In its desire to continue contributing to science, it has incorporated MOTOR (Modification, Technology, Outreach and Transfer) initiatives into its internal organization.
Motor Ocean seeks to contribute to fill the existing gap in the country in engineering and operational oceanography. Having knowledge in these areas, which helps generate and manage an ocean observation system to feed operational models, becomes the key to optimal resource management and sustainable coexistence with the ocean. The motor will allow to optimize the transfer of said knowledge to effectively apply it to society, decision makers and the productive sector at the same time.
The motor unit is configured with four axes of action: “modelling”, “technological development”, “education and dissemination” and “public service and natural resources”, depending on the executive management of the center’s management and transfer, While they have their own coordinators and work teams.
The relocation executive direction in charge of the motor is in the hands of Sandra Espinoza, Commercial Engineer and Master in Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who will work with a team in managing relocation projects in emerging sectors at regional and national level.
“Currently there is a perceived gap between the results of scientific research and what is achieved to society as a whole. This situation is replicated in various national centers and COPAS seeks to take charge through the motor, with society and organizations Recognizing the challenge of bridging this distance from the public and the business world, build a bridge, a link between the needs and knowledge of these entities, explains Sandra Espinoza, Executive Director, Transfer.
“The motor is configured as a structure within our organization and as such it should be self-sustaining once in a while. In addition, we will have an operations center that we have developed together with the University of Concepcion and the architects Alberto Alvarez and Patricio Escobar It will be a place where scientific creativity, education and technological applications will come together and where people in the fields of research and decision making can interact and that in itself is a great adventure”, says Dr. Fernandez Huh.
four axes of action
The modeling is in coordination with Dr. Sergio Neira and Gonzalo Saldias. Researchers will participate in transdisciplinary projects implementing and improving coastal, atmospheric, ecosystem and individual circulation models. “One of our goals is to have a model that integrates all these levels and allows us to evaluate the whole ecosystem,” explains Dr. Sergio Neira, one of the coordinators. Among the problems this axis seeks to address is to improve the understanding of how living components (i.e. populations, marine communities, food webs) and non-living components of ecosystems (oceanography, habitat conditions) interact. .
Second, there is the technical axis, coordinated by Dr. Diego Narvez, which will focus on ocean observation, sensor development and ocean acoustics. In addition, a repository of databases of acoustic signals in the ocean (marine mammals, fish, earthquakes, ship noises, etc.) will be created that can be used by the scientific community to develop identification and classification algorithms.
The Education and Extension axis, under the co-ordination of Dr. Paul Gomez, will continue along the line that has been in place since 2013 and has placed the COPAS Center as a national benchmark in ocean culture issues.
Activities will focus on the school community, coastal communities and marine science communicators, including journalists, through whom it is possible to reach society.
The final axis of the motor unit refers to public service and natural resources, coordinated by Ricardo Norambuena, with whom efforts are directed to transfer knowledge to decision-making in the area of conservation and sustainable use of marine ecosystems in Chile. Will go
Currently, in the context of climate change, it is necessary to reinforce the observation of changes in the oceans, which are different on our coast. According to Norambuena, “…we have limited ability to feed models that may establish future climate scenarios of impacts that we cannot ignore. For example, changes in seawater temperatures affect marine populations.” This will affect the distribution which is the basis of subsistence for many fishing communities along the coast. Higher frequency and intensity of swells are also expected, which will undoubtedly affect the infrastructure of the fishing cove and reduce the days of operation. In these situations, it becomes necessary to prepare and adapt in a timely manner.”
This axis is also made up of LBTX-UDEC, the first marine toxin detection service laboratory in the BioBio region, directed by Dr. Alison Astuya, to investigate uncontrolled emerging toxins that are visible due to climate change. “We expect that we will be able to offer our services to the public sector, to entities that do not have analytical capability today and who derive their analysis for Santiago or Puerto Montt; but the private sector such as the Canaries and for other companies as well”, the researchers say. In this way, the motor unit is presented as an innovation in oceanography, creating an independent unit with clear axes, an operations center and Chile’s Accompanied by dedicated personnel to build the link between the most urgent needs of the coasts and their residents.