Students majoring in environmental engineering in our branch campus in Guayaquil took part in the webinar: "Oceanography conditions in the Ecuadorian sea" to learn about the chemical and biological conditions of the sea and their incidence in climatic events.

The webinar was led by researchers from the Department of Marine Sciences belonging to the Oceanographic and Antarctic Institute of the Ecuadorian Navy (INOCAR for its acronym in Spanish). They presented the results of the oceanographic cruise CO-I-2020, carried out in October 2020.

Christian Naranjo, one of the researchers, addressed issues such as the importance of marine study and the analysis of climatic variables in the prevention of anomalous events such as El Niño and La Niña. "In the sea there are relevant oceanographic processes, where conditions change, therefore, new organisms are created as well as the arrival of other species".

Regarding the oceanographic cruise, Naranjo explained the sampling processes, in addition to the protocols implemented for the preservation of the material they obtained. He stressed the relationship between sea temperature and the development of marine life, highlighting the importance of the surface distribution of chlorophyll in this area.

Luis Burgos, with more than 30 years of experience in INOCAR, explained the monitoring of ocean - atmospheric conditions through physical and chemical sampling in the water, in addition to the meteorological conditions of the surface "One of the most important variables to determine the health of water, is the oxygen", he said. 

Carmen Palacios, director of the Environmental Engineering undergraduate program at UPS - Guayaquil, congratulated the speakers. "Thank you for sharing this data in a transparent way with our students, we know that it is information they are working on with a lot of responsibility "