Jara Martínez Sánchez
Civil Engineer at IHCantabria - Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria
Spaniard living in Santander, Spain
Jara is a Civil Engineer, with a Master’s Degree in Coastal and Harbour Engineering and a PhD in Science and Technologies for Coastal Management. After a few years developing her career in the private consultancy sphere as project manager of coastal engineering projects, she joined the Coastal Engineering and Management Research Group of IHCantabria in 2008. Since then, she has been involved in both consultancy projects and scientific research.
Jara regularly contributes to the development of numerical tools and methodologies with regards to coastal hydro-morphodynamic processes, disaster risk assessment and management, and the design of hard/soft and nature-based risk reduction measures and coastal protection structures. She mainly focuses in providing scientific evidence to national and international, public and private agencies in order to inform more sustainable and efficient ways to manage coastal risks and adapt to climate change. In the past 10 years she has led multidisciplinary and multicultural teams aimed to deliver strategies and plans for the coastal zone in various regions such as the EU, the Arabian Gulf, the North of Africa or the Caribbean.
Besides her engineering and scientific works, she regularly leads and participates in a wide variety of science popularisation activities in which she exploits her creativity and unique sense of humor. She is passionate about science communication, particularly for kids and teenagers and is a mother of three. Being an active member of local and international associations for women in STEMM, she is committed to promote female talent in the next generation of scientists and engineers.
