I am just a guy from Peru who likes programming, playing with data (if it is climate data, better), and making cool figures. Currently, I am a PhD candidate at the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), working on urban climate modelling of biometeorological variables. I have just started so you probably know more about this topic than I do.
Academic background
I studied Meteorology at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru, where I started to like programming and climate, and a master’s in climate at the Universität Hamburg. Also, I conducted two research projects for my bachelor’s and master’s theses. The first one investigated the effect of climate on malaria using temporal (wavelet analysis) and spatial (machine learning) techniques. The second research focused on the variability of extreme temperatures (heat and cold waves) and a tiny analysis of the impacts on mortality. As you can see, I also lean a bit towards epidemiology because I find the links to climate interesting.
Work experience
I have experience in many different areas, from rainfall analysis and water resource management to epidemiology and dashboard development.
- Water resources data analysis:
I started working at the National Water Authority in 2015. My main tasks were to clean precipitation data, analyze extreme rainfall events, and monitor the current droughts and the state of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). All of this was important for the management of the country’s water resources, as rainfall is the main source of water for rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.
- Monitoring of extreme events:
During the summer of 2015-16, I was dispatched to the National Emergency Operations Center to help monitor extreme events (severe storms, flash floods, and landslides) related to the 2015-16 El Niño. Additionally, I helped develop statistical models to predict the increases in river flows and develop an early warning system based on weather stations.
- Weather data for malaria modelling:
In the autumn of 2016, I moved to the General Epidemiology Directorate for a short time to support the development of malaria models based on weather data. The idea was to use current and forecast weather data to predict the incidence rate of malaria through statistical models.
- Teaching Assistant:
From 2017 to 2019, I worked as a teaching assistant at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina. I was responsible for the practical lectures on programming, climate statistics, and remote sensing. I also assisted in the management of the “Alexander von Humbolt” meteorological observatory and the Laboratory of Remote Sensing in Meteorology.
- Conceptualisation of the Water Resource Management Tool:
Around mid 2019, I returned to the National Water Agency for a few months to conceptualise a set of water resource management toolboxes to be used by decision makers. The tools I was responsible for were related to Dam management, Aquifer management, Extreme weather events, and Climate Change.
- Dengue, COVID-19, and data management:
From 2019 to 2020, I worked at the Peruvian Center for Disease Control. Initially, my work focused on analysing climate and its impact on dengue. However, COVID-19 started and we were severely understaffed to control the pandemic, so I had to drop whatever I was doing in order to help the team. I was good with computers, data cleaning, and Linux, so I set up a virtual server to process all the data we had. The server also helped with modelling and automating many processes. Then, I started helping with the analysis of COVID-19 data and developing dashboards to present all the data we had.
- PhD in urban climate modelling:
I am currently doing my PhD at GERICS. I guess you could call it a job…