​J. Carlos Santamarina is a Professor of Earth Science and Engineering in the Physical Science and Engineering Division, and Associate Director of the newly created Upstream Petroleum Engineering Research Center ANPERC. Santamarina studied civil engineering at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1982. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Maryland in 1984 and received his doctorate from Purdue University in 1987. Before he joined KAUST, Santamarina was a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Santamarina’s research explores the scientific foundations of geomaterial behavior and subsurface processes using particle-level and pore-scale experiments, combined with numerical methods and high-resolution process monitoring systems. This conceptual and experimental framework is advancing the study of phenomena and the development of solutions in energy geotechnology with contributions to resource recovery (petroleum, methane hydrates), energy geo-storage, and geological storage of energy waste (carbon geological storage, fly ash and nuclear waste).

Former group members are faculty members at more than thirty universities and lead researchers at foremost institutions worldwide. Dr. Santamarina is a member of both Argentinian National Academies -Science and Engineering- and has served in multiple committees at the U.S. National Academies. He has authored two books and over 300 publications. Dr. He was the 2012 British Geotechnical Association Touring Lecturer, and delivered the 50th Terzaghi Lecture in 2014.​