Earth Sciences Division Staff: Andrea Cortis

Biographical Summary

Dr. Cortis is a career research scientist with the Hydrogeology Department in the Earth Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, California.

Dr. Cortis is a leading expert in the analysis of multiphase-multicomponent transport in multiscale heterogeneous geological media, by means of the Continuous Time Random Walk method. He has a significant expertise in the numerical solution of multiphysics geophysical problems, (e.g., frequency-dependent flow in porous media; dense-gas dispersion in the atmosphere; multiphase flow in porous materials) and for some of these problems designed the relevant laboratory experimental setups. He is also interested on the characterization of complex geophysical patterns via fractal-multifractal projections.

Research Interests

Mathematical methods for the geoscience

• Multiphase flow and transport; Numerical methods for integro-dierential equations; Environmental fluid mechanics; Statistical physics; Fractal geometry; Upscaling theories; Monitoring-networks optimization.
• Nanomaterials for water remediation

Education

• Ph.D. Geophysics, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands (2002).

• M.Sc. Hydraulic Engineering, University of Cagliari, Italy (1997).

• D.E.A. Fluid Mechanics and École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Transport Phenomena, Bordeaux-Talence, France (1994).

Work Experience

Jan 2006 - Present

• Career Research Scientist Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley (USA).

Oct 2004 - Dec 2005

• Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources, University of California at Davis (USA)

Feb 2002 - Sep 2004

• Visiting Scientist Dept. ESER, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel)

Nov 1997 - Jan 2002

• Research Assistant/Ph.D. candidate Dept. Applied Earth Sciences, Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands)

Feb 1997 - Oct 1997

• External consultant Earth Sciences Dept. of the University of Cagliari (Italy)

Sep 1993 - Jul 1994

• D.E.A. candidate Laboratoire d’Enérgétique et Phénomènes de Transfert -ENSAM, Bordeaux, (France)

Jun 1992  - Sep 1992

• Recipient of a scholarship from the European Union (ERASMUS project) Laboratoire d’Enérgétique et Phénomènes de Transfert -ENSAM, Bordeaux, (France)

Awards and Grants

2008

• Up-Scaling of Two-Phase Processes and Parameters, Swiss National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (NAGRA) grant

2007

• A Novel Physical and Geometrical Interpretation of Geophysical Data Sets, Earth Sciences Division (LBNL) - Program Development Grant.

2002-2004

• Marie Curie Individual Fellowship, European Commission. (Competitive grant)

1992

• European Union ERASMUS scholarship.