Emma Huertas

Investigadora Principal

My research interests lie within the field of marine biogeochemistry. Particularly, my studies focus on the role of the ocean in the Earth's climate system, characterizing the contribution of the marine realm (including both coastal and open ocean regions) to the heat absorption and exchange of greenhouse gases (GHGs) with the atmosphere. Likewise, I investigate the consequences of the marine withdrawal of atmospheric CO₂ on the chemistry of seawater (ocean acidification) and its impact on organisms, from planktonic to higher trophic levels. I struggle to maintain the fixed ocean observatory GIFT (Gibraltar Fixed Time Series) at the Strait of Gibraltar (operative since 2005) to provide data to international agencies and programs involved in the monitoring and assessment of climate change.

Scientific Contributions and Capacity Building

• Authored 90 research contributions including articles, book chapters and scientific reports.
• Principal Investigator for 25 research projects, 8 of which are European funded (PI in 4 of them) and the remaining has received funding by different Spanish and Regional Ministries and Public Administrations (PI in 12).
• Supervised 3 Post postdoctoral fellows, 6 Ph.D. students (with 3 Theses ongoing), 4 Master's theses and a number of technicians.
• Chief scientist in 12 oceanographic campaigns (out of 17).

Institutional Responsibilities

• Deputy Director of the ICMAN-CSIC since 2015.
• Member of the CSIC Scientific Advisory Committee since 2020.
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Parks Division (Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales) since 2021.
• Member of the International Advisory Committee of the ICTS Doñana since 2017.
• CSIC representative in the Governing Boards of the Natural Parks of the Strait of Gibraltar (since 2007) and Bay of Cadiz (since 2022).
• Coordinator of the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform OCEANS+ (https://pti-oceans.csic.es/).
• Expert for national and international evaluation agencies, such as the Spanish Research Agency, ICREA (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies), the Basque Government, the Belgian FNRS, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the Argentinian ANPC and the European Commission (more than 20 calls of H2020 and Horizon Europe).
• Member of the Spanish Delegation and speaker at the United Nations Ocean Conference held in Lisbon (June-July, 2022).
• Deputy Coordinator for the National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective (ANEP) in the area of Earth Sciences (2010-2017).
• Member of the Executive board of Integrated Carbon Observing System (2010-2013).

10 Most Representative Publications

1. Lange et al., (2023) Synthesis Product for Ocean Time-Series (SPOTS) – A ship-based biogeochemical pilot. Earth System Science Data, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-238.
2. Heinze, C., et al., (2023) Reviews and syntheses: Abrupt ocean biogeochemical change under human-made climatic forcing – warming, acidification, and deoxygenation, Biogeosciences Discuss. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-182 , in review, 2023.
3. Amaya-Vias et al., (2023) The time series at the Strait of Gibraltar as a baseline for long-term assessment of vulnerability of calcifiers to ocean acidification. Frontiers in Marine Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1196938.
4. Enrique-Navarro A, Huertas IE, León Cobo MJ, Prieto L (2021) Impact of ocean warming and ocean acidification on asexual reproduction and statolith formation of the symbiotic jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0254983. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254983
5. García-Lafuente J, Sammartino S, Huertas IE, Flecha S, Sánchez-Leal RF, Naranjo C, Nadal I, Bellanco MJ. (2021) Hotter and Weaker Mediterranean Outflow as a response to basin-wide alterations. Frontiers in Marine Sciences 8:613444. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.613444
6. Álvarez‐Salgado XA, Otero J, Flecha S, Huertas IE (2020) Seasonality of dissolved organic carbon exchange across the Strait of Gibraltar. Geophysical Research Letters 47 (18), e2020GL089601
7. Flecha S, Pérez FF, Murata A, Makaoui A,Huertas IE (2019) Decadal acidification in Atlantic and Mediterranean water masses exchanging at the Strait of Gibraltar. Scientific Reports 9, 15533. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52084-x.
8. Huertas IE, de la Paz M, Perez FF, Flecha S (2019) Methane emissions from the saltmarshes of Doñana wetlands: spatio-temporal variability and controlling factors. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00032
9. Huertas IE, Flecha S, Figuerola J, Costas E, Morris EP (2017) Effect of hydroperiod on CO2 fluxes at the air-water interface in the Mediterranean Coastal Wetlands of Doñana Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences. doi:10.1002/2017JG003793 
10. de la Paz M, Huertas IE, Flecha S, Rios AF, Perez FF (2015) Nitrous oxide and methane in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters in the Strait of Gibraltar: Air-sea fluxes and inter-basin exchange. Progress in Oceanography 138: 18 31. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2015.09.009.