Santiago Puig Asensio

Professional Profile

Santiago Puig Asensio is the Director and Principal Investigator at the Mediterranean Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA), an independent environmental initiative focused on strengthening marine pollution monitoring, environmental evidence collection, and institutional response in the Eastern Mediterranean.

He holds a university degree from Sogang University, South Korea, with an interdisciplinary academic background in Industrial Engineering and Visual Design. His training informs his approach to complex systems, analytical workflows, technical problem-solving, and the development of practical environmental monitoring tools.

At MEPA, he leads the development of applied research methodologies combining satellite Earth observation, maritime information, geospatial analysis, and structured evidence-management procedures. His work focuses on translating environmental observations into reproducible analytical outputs that can support independent review by competent authorities and research partners.

Current Research Project

Levantine Lanes 90 — Eastern Mediterranean Marine Pollution Monitoring Pilot

Levantine Lanes 90 is a proposed 90-day research pilot focused on shipping lanes south of Cyprus. The project is developing a methodology to evaluate how publicly available satellite observations and maritime information can support the identification, assessment, and documentation of potential marine pollution incidents.

Current research and development activities include:

• Developing structured workflows for screening and reviewing satellite observations.
• Establishing quality-control and independent verification procedures.
• Designing reproducible evidence packages with documented source data and analytical steps.
• Evaluating AI-assisted workflows for research, document analysis, information extraction, and evidence preparation.
• Defining measurable performance indicators for analytical quality, processing time, reproducibility, and institutional follow-up.

The project is designed to evaluate both the practical value and limitations of AI-assisted environmental monitoring. Human review remains essential for consequential analytical conclusions and any potential attribution of pollution incidents.

Research Leadership and Responsibilities

As Director and Principal Investigator, Santiago Puig Asensio leads:

• Research direction and methodology development.
• Technical coordination of the proposed pilot.
• Definition of analytical standards and verification procedures.
• Development of evidence documentation and reproducibility protocols.
• Evaluation of AI-assisted research workflows.
• Coordination of institutional and academic research collaborations.
• Definition of research objectives, evaluation criteria, and reporting procedures.