Gotzon Basterretxea Oyarzabal
My major interests are in the field of biological
oceanography, particularly in the field of plankton dynamics and physical-biological
interactions. As part of my PhD, I worked on primary production and island wake
effects. I also did some research on upwelling areas and in the Southern Ocean
during that time. Although still involved some open ocean research, I am
presentlymore focused on studies in the coastal environment. I am interested in
coastal processes and their effects on pelagic communities, including the study
of nearshore Harmful Algal Blooms HABs in the Mediterranean. As part of the
work in HABs we are exploring the possible links between coastal HABs and
coastal groundwater discharges and therein dissolved elements. Other aspects of
interest are shelf-ocean exchanges, plankton conectivity and real-time
characterization of the coastal environment using optical sensors. Much of this
research is directly applicable to problems of coastal zone, fisheries and
marine protected areas management as well as for and other environmental issues
including global change.