Dr. Ana Beatriz (Bia) Villas Bôas has accepted a faculty position at Mines and will join the Geophysics faculty in May 2022.

Dr. Villas Bôas is a physical oceanographer who studies the interaction between the atmosphere and oceans through theory, numerical modeling, and remote sensing. Her research lies at the forefront of quantifying how surface-wave physics shape global climate processes, and she is a key participant on multiple space mission science teams, including on the US-French SWOT (Surface Water Ocean Topography) mission scheduled to launch in 2022. Dr. Villas Bôas research area will add an important new direction to the Mines and Geophysics portfolios and will strengthen collaborations with key external groups like NOAA and NCAR. She is also an accomplished teacher, including as a Certified Software and Data Carpentry Instructor.

Dr. Villas Bôas received a PhD in 2020 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and before relocating to Mines in 2022, will conduct research as a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. In the interim, she will make regular trips to Mines to set up her research lab and to initiate new projects and collaborations across campus. The Geophysics Department is excited to have her as part of the team.