IHCantabria achieves significant advances in the line of research to which Itxaso Odériz contributes

After two years of postdoctoral research, Itxaso Odériz Martínez presents relevant results of the work she has developed at the Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria), with the support of a Juan de La Cierva grant.

During this period, Odériz has analyzed the effect that long-term natural variability has on coastal hazards and, therefore, what implications this may have on the assessment of coastal risks.
To this end, “we have classified the coasts according to the level or degree to which natural variability affects coastal hazards, i.e., waves, wind and tropical cyclones,” explains Itxaso Odériz.

In addition to this classification, one of the main results obtained with Odériz’s work has been the development of a database of synthetic tropical cyclones, under different categories or phases of what is the ENSO ─the El Niño and La Niña─ climate phenomena, which are these long-term natural variability patterns.
“It has been important to identify how the probability of extreme events on the coasts changes depending on whether or not we have natural variability climate patterns,” adds this postdoctoral researcher.

The results of the work developed by Itxaso Odériz allows strengthening the framework of long-term climate risks, which is of great relevance to support the formulation of adaptation strategies to climate change in coastal areas.
She has collaborated as a researcher in two important IHCantabria projects, including the adaptation project of coastal urban areas(ADAPTA-CITY) and a global study of flooding methodologies (G-FLOOD).

The results of their work are summarized in four scientific papers (one of which was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports), in papers presented at six international conferences and in the supervision of three Master’s Thesis.
Odériz is a member of the TROPIcal Cyclones in ANthropocene: physics, simulations & Attribution network . During the last two years, Odériz has also contributed to the promotion of scientific culture, through two science outreach activities (organized within the Peque-Ingeniería event and for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science); in addition to having expanded her training in artificial intelligence, focused on the application of advanced techniques to improve climate risk analysis.

Itxaso Odériz plans to continue the line of research she has been working on for the past two years ─particularly on tropical cyclones─ by developing another project that will begin this month, with the support of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship, which will last two years.