Speakers

Alejandro Cearreta

PhD in Geology and Lecturer in Micropaleontology
University of the Basque Country

Alejando Cearreta obtained the Degree in Geology at the UPV/EHU in 1983 and the PhD in Geology at the University of Exeter (UK) in 1987 thanks to a predoctoral grant from the Basque Government. He started at the UPV/EHU in 1988 and since 1993 he is Profesor Titular of Micropalaeontology. Alejandro Cearreta’s scientific activity has been performed in different coastal environments both in Spain (Cantabrian and Mediterranean coasts) and abroad (Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador and Chile).

In the field of Coastal Geology, he has developed 3 main lines of research: 1) Environmental evolution of the coastal zone during the Holocene; 2) Sea-level changes in the Quaternary; and 3) Human impact during the Anthropocene. Since 2002, Cearreta leads a consolidated research group (IT976-16) that investigates coastal changes from a multiproxy geological perspective. During the last 30 years he has been principal investigator of numerous national research projects and participated in other international projects, particularly in Portugal and Mexico. In addition, he is author of more than 150 scientific publications and acted as Guest Editor in different issues of SCI journals in collaboration with numerous international colleagues.

Alejandro Cearreta is currently member of the Anthropocene Working Group (International Commission on Stratigraphy) whose objetive is the formal definition of the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch, and Associate Researcher of the Basque Centre for Climate Change-BC3. As part of the academic community at the UPV/EHU, he is director of the postgraduate programmes (Master and PhD) in Quaternary: Environmental Changes and Human Fingerprint since 2009, and Visiting Professor at the Universities of São Paulo (Brazil, 2008) and Nacional Autónoma de México (2012).