Xabier, please introduce yourself.
My name is Xabier Davila, I'm originally from the rainy Basque Country (North of Spain), and currently living in the rainy Bergen (Norway). I work as a Postdoc at NORCE and have spent a year enrolled in OCEAN:ICE.
Tell us about your professional and academic career before becoming part of the OCEAN:ICE community.
I have a broad background in oceanography. I did my PhD at the Geophysical Institute/University of Bergen, working on large scale circulation and the transport/reconstructions of ocean tracers based on an inverse circulation model. Specifically, I reconstructed the global injection of Anthropogenic Carbon and Oxygen across the mixed layer.
What do you do within OCEAN:ICE?
I'm enrolled in the WP5 – Ice sheet impacts on global ocean circulation, where I have been estimating meltwater fractions in water masses from stable oxygen isotopes, and their change with time. We did this following a water mass approach where we trace water mass properties through machine learning.
What have you enjoyed about OCEAN:ICE so far?
Being part of OCEAN:ICE has been an enriching experience. This is the first time I'm involved in a large international project, and after a year, I'm still enjoying all the opportunities that it provides to meet new people, network and have stimulating conversations.
Tell us about a skill or trait unique to you that you would like to share?
I hardly think this is unique, but I would like to think that I can see the "big picture" with relative ease. This is probably coming from my broad background, which, in some cases, also makes me feel lost in details.
Stay tuned on our social media channels (X, Mastodon, LinkedIn and Facebook) for more of the series of OCEAN:ICE 'Researcher in the Spotlight' articles.