Lagrangian modelling class by Claire Paris

by Jean-Olivier Irisson, on December 12, 2014

A modelling class given as part of the Oceanography Masters degree in Villefranche has traditionally had a lot of success with students. This was the case again this year with many students picking it as their lass class of the semester. In the past, RSMAS students took the class, Arthur Mariano came to teach physical Lagrangian modelling and data analysis, David Die came to teach fisheries modelling. This year, Claire Paris came to give a class and a lab about Lagrangian models for connectivity studies. She presented the details of the Connectivity Modelling System developed in her lab over the last 10 years. Dealing with the amount of data such models typically produce proved challenging within a 3 hours lab… and learning that was an important take-home message for students.

Claire also took advantage of her stay to present another application of this model, to predict the fate of oil spilled by the Deepwater Horizon blowout, as part of a lab seminar. Focusing on the physical and chemical parameters of the model allowed highlighting its versatility in a domain different from the biological features it is usually known for. A message that resonated with many current research interest of the Villefranche lab.