Modelling Extreme Sea Levels: A Collaborative Research Visit to IMEDEA

In a small village near the beautiful Serra de Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca lies the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, IMEDEA. Dry suits, laboratory clothing, wildlife cameras, and researchers from many different disciplines create a wonderful mix of natural sciences. Although my own work mainly involved large amounts of data, the four weeks I spent at this inspiring institute were an exciting and highly valuable experience.

After a warm welcome from my host, Marta Marcos, we immediately began an in-depth discussion of my probabilistic approach to modelling extreme sea levels, with a particular focus on storm surges. We quickly identified strong overlaps between our research interests and developed a plan for using data produced within Marta’s group through computationally expensive hydrodynamic models to train and validate my machine-learning-based approach.

During my stay, I also had the opportunity to present my work to the sea-level and oceanography group at IMEDEA. I received very positive and helpful feedback from the several well-known experts in the field who are part of the institute.

Following this exciting start, I conducted several experiments, worked directly with the data provided by Marta Marcos, and discussed the results with her on an almost daily basis. These exchanges were extremely valuable for improving my methods and for identifying future directions for collaboration.

Overall, this was a very fruitful and inspiring visit, and an excellent example of scientific collaboration at its best. I am confident that it marks the beginning of a long-lasting scientific exchange.

I am very grateful to IMEDEA, and especially to Marta Marcos, for hosting me and welcoming me so openly. I would also like to thank the European COST Action STSM programme for making this visit possible.