Biography

I am a “Royal Society – Newton International Fellow” working in the project “Monitoring and coupled hydrogeophysical modelling of saltwater intrusion in heterogeneous aquifers” with Dr. Jean-Christophe Comte. The main objective of the project is to develop a hydrogeophysical mathematical modelling approach for robust quantification of groundwater flow and salt transport in coastal aquifers using geophysical methods.

Previously, I worked in the numerical modelling of water flow and contaminant transport of two flooded underground coal mines in Spain, as part of the EU funded project MERIDA ("Management of Environmental RIsks During and After mine closure"), and as hydrogeologist and geophysicist in several projects including, among others, the evaluation for new uses of abandoned coal mines (coal bed methane, CO2 geological storage, geothermal energy), characterisation and unsaturated zone modelling of mine tailings, groundwater modelling of coastal aquifers, and geophysical surveys for archaeological and forensic studies.

External Memberships

• International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
• European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE)
• International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG)
• European Geosciences Union (EGU)

• Scottish Alliance for Geosciences, Environment and Society (SAGES)

Prizes and Awards

AIH-GE Alfons Bayó 2020 International Association of Hydrogeologists - Spanish Chapter

Mathematical Geosciences Student Award 2014 IAMG International Association for Mathematical Geosciences

Research Overview

• Use of geophysical methods for near-surface characterization in environmental, mining, geotechnical, engineering, archaeological and forensic applications.
• Numerical modelling of fluid flow and transport in saturated and variable saturated porous media.
• Finite element multiphysical modelling (mainly for hydrogeophysical applications).

Current Research

My current research aims to develop an integrated hydrogeophysical mathematical modelling approach for quantification of groundwater flow and salt transport in coastal heterogeneous aquifers using geophysical methods.  

Some of the objectives of the project are:

• To develop a coupled hydrogeophysical model, using the finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics®, that mathematically links the distribution of hydraulic properties and dynamics of flow and transport in porous media with geophysical observations.
• To assess the ability and accuracy of electrical geophysical methods to capture the spatiotemporal patterns of induced saltwater intrusion in real heterogeneous aquifers.
• To evaluate the uncertainty associated with the use of empirical petrophysical relationships traditionally utilized in hydrogeophysical studies.
• To assess the resolution achievable in field conditions using survey configurations (arrays, electrode spacing and distribution of profiles) for both saltwater intrusion patterns and subsurface properties.

Funding and Grants

Royal Society - Newton International Fellowship 2018: Monitoring and coupled hydrogeophysical modelling of saltwater intrusion in heterogeneous coastal aquifers (2019-2021)

IAMG Mathematical Geosciences Student Award 2014: Study of the gravity anomaly produced by a pumping test in an unconfined aquifer: coupled modeling and survey optimization.