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Staff Profile

Dr Miguel Morales Maqueda

Senior Lecturer in Oceanography

Background

Background

I hold a degree in Fundamental Physics for the Complutense University of Madrid. My earliest research, carried out during my PhD years at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, was in the study of the interactions between the upper polar ocean and the sea ice cover using large scale, coupled sea ice-ocean models. An important result of this effort was the creation of a dynamics-thermodynamics sea ice model that is still in use as part of the NEMO (Nucleus for a European Model of the Ocean) modelling system. Subsequently, I moved to University of Keele, UK, where, as a NERC research fellow, I worked on various problems of polar climate modelling, specifically, the dynamics of polynyas (open water areas within the sea ice cover), climate-ice sheet interactions, and modes of natural variability of the upper polar ocean using different intermediate complexity models. I next moved to the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and became a CLIVAR fellow working on the coupling of sea ice and ocean general circulation models and investigating the dynamics of the Meridional Overturning Circulation and the impact of diverse advection schemes on effective diapycnal mixing in ocean models. This work completed, I was appointed associate research scientist at New York University where my research focused on modelling the ocean circulation underneath ice shelf cavities using isopycnic models and the interactions between geothermal/hydrothermal flows and the abyssal ocean circulation. My final move before taking my current position at Newcastle University was again in the UK as NERC higher scientific officer at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory and, later, at the National Oceanography Centre. At POL and NOC, I pursued further my ocean modelling interests but took also responsibilities organising and leading oceanographic field work in the North West Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay (measurement of the Atlantic Overturning Circulation), Drake Passage (measurement of the strength Antarctic Circumpolar Current), and the Panama Basin (characterisation of the abyssal circulation in response to geothermal/hydrothermal forcing). I also led, and continue leading, work on the use of autonomous surface vehicles for the monitoring and measurement of the sea state, the geoid and the ocean mean dynamic topography.

 

Roles and Responsibilities

 

Qualifications

PhD Complutense University of Madrid and University of Louvain, 1995

BSc Complutense University of Madrid, 1987

 

Previous positions

• Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory and National Oceanography Centre, UK, 2005-2015.

• Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, USA, 2003-2005.

• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, 1999-2003.

• Department of Mathematics, Keele University, UK, 1996-1999.

• Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics Georges Lemaître, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, 1995.

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Teaching
  • Undergraduate
  • The Marine Environment - Year 1 - Lecturer (45%) - Fundamental ocean physics, current topics (marine renewable energy and plastics), ocean, climate and climatic change.
  • Introductory Oceanography - Year 1 - Lecturer (40%) - Similar content to The Marine Environment.
  • Marine Practical Skills 1 - Year 1 - Lecturer (5%) - Basic numeracy skills for marine sciences.
  • Oceans and Climate - Year 2 - Module leader - (36 %) - Further ocean physics and dynamics (turbulence and mixing, abyssal circulation).
  • Marine Practical Skills II - Year 2 - Lecturer (36%) - Marine sampling techniques on board RV The Princess Royal.
  • Advanced Marine Research Topics 3 - Year 3 - Module leader (34%) - Sea level science.
  • Marine Research Projects - Year 3 - Supervisor
  • Postgraduate
  • Understanding Marine Ecosystems - Marine Ecosystems and Governance MRes - Lecturer (14%) - Shelf seas dynamics for ecosystem studies.
  • International Marine Environmental Consultancy (IMEC) - MSc
  • Marine consultancy project planning - Supervisor
  • Consultancy dissertation project - Supervisor
Research

Follow this link to my research pages.

Publications