Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

At Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the research of Sergio Navarrete and Juan Carlos Castilla and their labs has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation since 1998. Our main focus of research has been on improving our understanding of links between nearshore oceanographic processes and the dynamics of benthic populations and communities. Research is conducted primarily along the coast of central Chile, at the Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas of Las Cruces, but also in the Bay of Antofagasta in northern Chile. Funds by the Mellon Foundation allowed us to pioneer studies on nearshore oceanography in the southeastern Pacific, support a large number of graduate students, post-docs and young researchers, and consolidate strong and productive lines of research that merge traditional experimental ecology, oceanography and macroecology. Over these years, we have had seven post-doctoral associates, seven graduate students, eight research assistants and over nine undergraduate students who completed research theses in our teams thanks to Mellon support. The recent incorporation of Dr. Miriam Fernández to our Mellon research team brings biogeographical as well as reproductive biology perspectives into our projects.