Professor at the Institute of Marine and Limnological Sciences in the Faculty of Sciences at the University Austral of Chile. Oceanographer at the Superior Polytechnic School of Litoral, Ecuador, and has a PhD in Oceanography at the University of Concepcion.

Dr. Vargas studies the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, with special emphasis on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. He relies primarily on data coming from models and satellite sensors. He also researches stratification processes in estuaries and fjords.