Dr. Saldías obtained his degree in Marine Biology from the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, and he holds a Master’s in Oceanography from the Universidad de Concepción as well as a PhD in Physical Oceanography from the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, at Oregon State University, USA. He is an Assistant Professor in the Physics Departament of the Universidad de Bío-Bío.

Dr. Saldías’ primary area of research is coastal oceanography. He is a specialist in the processing and analysis of high-resolution satellite information and in observations with autonomous underwater vehicles for coastal ocean studies. His research includes the impact of fluvial plumes on the coastal ocean in eastern boundary systems – including the central and far-southern Chilean coast, the Iberian Peninsula, and Oregon – and their relationship with climate variability.

He is currently doing postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia, focusing on numerical modelling of the circulation in submarine canyons, with a special emphasis on high-latitude systems