Dr. Marta Umbert is a physical oceanographer with expertise in remote sensing, reanalysis, and in-situ data. She focus on enhancing our understanding of polar physical oceanography in the changing climate context. Graduated in Marine Sciences from Cadiz University. She received of the highly competitive 'la Caixa Foundation’ fellowship to pursue a master's degree in oceanography and coastal management at the University of Barcelona in 2009.
Following the master's program, she joined the Institute of Marine Sciences in 2010 working in ocean modeling. In 2011 she obtain an FPI fellowship under the guidance of Antonio Turiel and J. Ballabrera-Poy. The thesis, titled 'Exploiting the multiscale synergy among ocean variables: Application to the improvement of remote sensing salinity,' aimed to enhance the resolution and accuracy of remote sensing salinity data. International research stays, including one at CNRS and IFREMER in France and Washington University in USA, contributed to the development of an innovative data fusion technique applied to surface salinity data from the ESA-funded SMOS satellite mission.
Post-doctoral research at IFREMER subject was to investigate the role of salinity information in ocean current estimation. Despite a research interruption due to family reasons, she resumed their career with a Marie Skodowska-Curie Postdoctoral fellowship. Her MSCA project demonstrated for the first time the capability of Surface Quasi-Geostrophy to reconstruct three-dimensional dynamics in the Arctic Ocean. Marta Umbert has developed a deep interest in polar regions, leading research papers on polar dynamics using remote sensing products. Concurrently, she led the preparation of a funded proposal to study salinity near melting ice in the Weddell Sea, participating in an Antarctic expedition aboard the French ship Le Commandant Charcot.