Roberto Urrutia

Chile

Dean of Environmental Sciences Faculty at the University of Concepcion

Professor Roberto Urrutia is a leading Chilean limnologist and Full Professor at the University of Concepción, where he serves as Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and leads the Department of Aquatic Systems. He is internationally recognized for his extensive contributions to freshwater ecosystem research, with a particular focus on climate change, lake and river ecology, sedimentology, and water quality in South America.

Over the past three decades, Professor Urrutia has coordinated and participated in numerous high-impact research projects, many of them multidisciplinary and international. His work spans from reconstructing environmental and climatic changes in Chilean Patagonia through lake sediment analysis to investigating the effects of pollutants, such as heavy metals and nanoparticles, in freshwater systems. His collaborative approach has linked Chilean research institutions with counterparts in Europe, including Belgium and Switzerland, as well as with the United Nations and regional governance bodies.

He has supervised a large number of PhD and MSc students across topics such as paleolimnology, toxic algal blooms, watershed management, and the biogeochemical effects of climate variability. His leadership in postgraduate education has fostered a new generation of scientists addressing global change and freshwater sustainability.

Professor Urrutia has served as Principal Investigator of the CRHIAM Center (Water Resources for Agriculture and Mining), an ANID/FONDAP/15130015 research hub supported by the Chilean government. He also holds the UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Protection Planning and has been deeply involved in science-policy dialogues through various platforms, including the Sustainable Development Goal 6.5.1 assessments.

His scholarly output includes more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, book chapters, and conference presentations, often in collaboration with an international network of scientists. Topics of recent publications include remote sensing of water quality, mercury distribution in coastal ecosystems, and machine learning applications for lake monitoring.

Through his scientific rigor and commitment to sustainability, Professor Urrutia continues to influence both academic research and public policy related to freshwater ecosystems in Latin America and beyond.