Carlota Escutia Dotti (born 1959) is a Spanish

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

, best known for her work on the geologic evolution of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

and the global role of the Antarctic ice cap. Escutia is based at the Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences),

Universidad de Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granada ...

and the

High Council for Scientific Research The Spanish National Research Council (, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote research that will help bring about scientific and techn ...

(CSIC).

Early life and education

Carlota Escutia Dotti was born in

Monzón (Huesca), Spain Monzón () is a small city and municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. Its population was 17,176 as of 2014. It is located at the confluence of the Cinca and Sosa rivers, in the Cinca Media comarca of the province of Huesca. ...

in 1959. Escutia received her undergraduate degree, followed by an MSc in Geology from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

in 1982 and 1985 respectively. Her PhD was awarded in 1992 from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

in seismic

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

and

sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of m ...

depositional environment In geology, depositional environment or sedimentary environment describes the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes associated with the deposition of a particular type of sediment and, therefore, the rock types that will b ...

Career and impact

Escutia's research focuses on seismic

and

of clastic continental margins in high and low latitudes with the following themes: global environmental and paleoclimatic change, geohazards, and resource assessment. She has made important contributions to understanding how the

Antarctic ice sheet The Antarctic ice sheet is a continental glacier covering 98% of the Antarctic continent, with an area of and an average thickness of over . It is the largest of Earth's two current ice sheets, containing of ice, which is equivalent to 61% of ...

has grown and melted during the last 35 million years, also providing crucial information on the sedimentological record of climate change in Antarctica. In addition to her scientific publications, Escutia additionally has authored scientific and planning reports, as well as giving keynote and plenary lectures. In her professional career she has worked as a marine geologist at the High Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Instituto de Ciencias del Mar, Barcelona (Spain), from 1984 to 1985, as a visiting scholar to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, from 1994 to 1995, as a postdoctoral researcher at the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

, from 1995 to 1997, as a visiting scientist to the United States Geological Survey, from 1997 to 1998, as an adjunct professor at the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

, from 1996 to 2002, as an assistant research scientist /Leg Project Manager at the

Ocean Drilling Program The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) was part of an international project to explore and study the composition and structure of Earth's oceanic basins. This collaborative effort spanned multiple decades and produced comprehensive data that improved un ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, as a research affiliate at Texas A&M University, from 2001 to 2002, and as an investigator on "

Ramón y Cajal Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramón (footballer, born 1950), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1988), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Br ...

" at the

, from 2002 to 2005. She was Coordinator of the ANTOSTRAT (Antarctic Acoustic Offshore Stratigraphy) Project Land Regional Working Group, from 1995 to 2002, and European co-chief scientist of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 318: Ice Sheet Evolution, collecting deep-sea cores off Wilkes Land in Antarctica from 2008–2013, she has contributed significantly to understanding the geologic evolution of Antarctica and the role of the Antarctic ice cap in our world. Further projects cover the topics of marine-terrestrial linkages during past global climatic changes (2004-2005), Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE): An International research initiative to study the climate and glacial history of Antarctica through paleoclimate and ice-sheet modelling integrated with the geological record for SCAR (2004–present), Antarctic Climate Evolution during the

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred ...

, Bipolar Climate Machinery - A study of the interplay of northern and southern polar processes in driving and amplifying global climate as recorded in paleoclimate archives and their significance for the generation of realistic estimates of future climate and sea level development during the International Polar Year and Plate Tectonics and Polar Gateways in Earth History during the International Polar Year. She has been a member of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling-Antarctic Detailed Planning Group since 1996, the chair of the Extreme Climates Working Group, APLACON (Alternate Platforms as part of the

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) was an international marine research program, running from 2003 to 2013. The program used heavy drilling equipment mounted aboard ships to monitor and sample sub-seafloor environments. With this rese ...

), Lisbon since 2001, was the Texas A&M-Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) liaison to the ODP Environmental Scientific Evaluation Panel from 1999 to 2002, is part of the JEODI Work Package-7 Working Group from September 2002 – present, currently serves on the Editorial Review Board (ERB) of the Ocean Drilling Program (1998–Present), a member of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site Survey Panel (SSP) in representation of the European Consortium for Ocean and a member of Research Drilling (ECORD) (2002-2005,) a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) from 1998–present, a member of the

Society for Sedimentary Geology The Society for Sedimentary Geology is an international not-for-profit, scientific society based in the US state of Oklahoma. It is commonly referred to by its acronym SEPM, which refers to its former name, the Society of Economic Paleontologists a ...

(SEPM) from 1998–present. At the 2014

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council, International Science Council (ISC). SCAR coordinates international scientific research efforts in Antarctica, including th ...

Open Science Conference she was invited to give a plenary lecture on Deciphering past climate and ice sheet dynamics from sedimentary records. She was co-chief Officer and member of the steering committee of the SCAR Scientific Research Programme (SRP) Past Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics, is a member of Antarctic Climate Change in the 21st Century, and is one of the Spanish representatives to the SCAR Standing Scientific Group on Geosciences. Escutia also attended the SCAR Horizon Scan Retreat. Since 2005 she has been an associate research scientist at the High Council for Scientific Research, while also working as an academic in the doctoral programme ('Mención de Calidad') at the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

. She has also been a collaborator, member or Principal Investigator on numerous scientific programmes and investigations.

Awards

Elected member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences-Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (RAC) (2025) https://rac.es/noticias/403/ Elected National Corespondent of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (2023) https://www.racab.cat/academia/academics/academics-en-2/national-correspondent/escutia/?lang=en Rei Jaume I Award in Environmental Protection. Fundación Reinas Jaume I Awards (2023) https://fprj.es/premiados/ Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Medal for International Scientific Coordination (2020): www.scar.org/awards/medals/awardees Geological Society of America (GSA) Honorary Fellow (2020): www.geosociety.org/GSA/About/awards/GSA/Awards/2020/gsa-awards.aspx Blaustein Fellowship from the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University (California, USA) in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dotti, Carlota Escutia 1958 births Living people Antarctic scientists Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Spain and the Antarctic Spanish geologists Spanish women scientists Women Antarctic scientists Women geologists