António M. Baptista - Biography

Dr. António Baptista is a faculty member in the Institute of Environmental Health at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). He holds an appointment as a professor in the Division Environmental and Biomolecular Systems program, of which he was the founding chairman. In July 2006, he became the Director of the Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction.

Dr. Baptista conducts interdisciplinary research on advanced information technology to improve scientific understanding of the coastal-margin environment. His CORIE project, initially established in 1996, is a pioneering coastal-margin ocean observing system for the Columbia River estuary and adjacent coast. He also provides scientific oversight for the development of ELCIRC and SELFE, state-of-the-art unstructured-grid computer models for 3D simulation of river-to-ocean circulation.

In collaboration with fisheries biologists responsible for the recovery of threatened and endangered salmon in the Columbia River basin, he investigates how navigation system improvements and hydropower dam operations impact the estuarine ecosystem. His collaborative research with government agencies in Oregon and Washington has also led to the publication of tsunami inundation maps that are used by coastal planners for hazard mitigation.

Dr. Baptista holds Master's (1984) and Ph.D. (1987) degrees in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the degree of Specialist in Maritime Hydraulics (1986) from Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil in Portugal. He serves on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and on the Independent Science Board of the California Bay-Delta Authority. He is president-elect of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS).

See curriculum vitae.