Professional summary
Alejandro is an engineer and hydrologist, member of the Water Quality & Catchment Processes group within the Water & Climate Science area, and facilitator of the Working with Natural Processes (Nature-based Solutions and Natural Flood Management) theme across UKCEH.
He has 30+ years' experience of applied research on hydro-geomorphic systems from catchment to local scales, using innovative monitoring, data analysis and modelling towards further understanding fluvial and catchment processes.
Alejandro has worked on complex hydrological problems collaborating with other researchers, state agencies, industry and local communities in the UK, Chile, USA and elsewhere. He has led projects on catchment hydro-geomorphology, extreme floods and sediment transport, droughts and groundwater recharge, and low-cost real-time monitoring of river systems.
Since joining UKCEH, he has facilitated cross-institution bids and led projects in the Working with Natural Processes theme. Alejandro is currently co-leading the EU Horizon SpongeScapes project (2023-2027) together with colleagues from Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Greece and Slovenia, and starting SpongeWorks (2024-2028). He collaborates in ongoing UKCEH-led projects NC-International for Net Zero+ (sp. Thailand & Malaysia), uPcycle and UK Flood & Drought Research Infrastructure, and contributes to NERC Andes Water Towers Deplete & Retreat project.
Alejandro has supervised and co-supervised PhD and MSc/MPhil students in the UK and abroad. He is a visiting scholar at www.ciep.cl in Chile, and Middlesex University in UK. He is a member of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, the European Geophysical Union, the British Society of Geomorphology, River Restoration UK and the British Hydrological Society. Alejandro presents his collaborative research to scientists and policy makers, and has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, national assessments and report for public and private entities.
Gorsic S, Corona C, Munoz-Torrero Manchado A, Lopez-Saez J, Allen S, Ballesteros-Canovas J, Dussaillant A, Stoffel M 2025. Coupling tree-ring and geomorphic analyses to reconstruct the 1950s massive Glacier Lake Outburst Flood at Grosse Glacier, Chilean Patagonia. Sci Tot Env doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178368
Colavitto B, Allen S, Winocur D, Dussaillant A, Guillet S, Muñoz-Torrero Manchado A, Gorsic S, Stoffel M 2024. A glacial lake outburst floods hazard assessment in the Patagonian Andes combining inventory data and case-studies. Science of the Total Environment, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169703
Irarrázaval I, Dussaillant A, Iribarren P, Vivero S, Mariethoz G 2022. Monitoring ice-dynamics and morphological changes during proglacial lake development at Exploradores Glacier, Patagonia. Frontiers in Earth Science, doi:10.3389/feart.2022.791487
Benito G, Thorndycraft V, Medialdea A, Machado M, Sancho C, Dussaillant A 2021. Declining discharge of glacier outburst floods through the Holocene in central Patagonia. Quaternary Sciences Review doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106810
Aniya M, Dussaillant A, O´Kuinghttons J, Barcaza G, Bravo S. 2020. GLOFs of Laguna Témpanos, Glaciar Steffen, Hielo Patagónico Norte, Chile, since 1974. Bull Glac Res 38: 13-24 doi:10.5331/bgr.20R01
Quinn, R and Dussaillant A. Laboratory column investigation of heavy metal retention in bioretention systems. Hydrology Research, 2018 doi:10.2166/nh.2018.277
Quinn R, Dussaillant A. Modeling heavy metal behavior in Sustainable Drainage Systems: a case study. CLEAN Soil Air Water, 42 (2): 160-168, 2014 doi:10.1002/clen.201300163
Quinn R, Dussaillant A. Predicting infiltration and pollutant retention in bioretention drainage systems: model development and validation. Hydrol Res 45 (6): 855-67, 2014 doi:10.2166/nh.2014.146
Dussaillant A, Buytaert W, et al. Hydrological regime of remote catchments with extreme gradients under accelerated change: Baker basin, Patagonia. Hydrol Sci J 57(8): 1530-42, 2012 doi:10.1080/02626667.2012.726993
Dussaillant A, Benito G, Buytaert W, Carling P, Meier C, Espinoza F. Repeated glacial-lake outburst floods in Patagonia: An increasing hazard? Natural Hazards 54 (2): 469-481, 2010 doi:10.1007/s11069-009-9479-8