Senior Lecturer

My scientific interests are linked to evolutionary ecology, within whose scope I have approached diverse subjects using different species as study models. Likewise, from an applied perspective, I have investigated how a sound knowledge of animal-plant interactions contributes to the management of the natural environment, especially in the case of Holm oak dehesas.

My main research line is based on the implications of the interactions between plants and animals for ecosystem functioning and species diversification. I have developed most of my work at tropical and temperate oak forests, studying principally seed predation and defoliation by forest insects. The interest for the evolutionary aspects of this subject has led me to build DNA-based phylogenies to test in which extent these interactions promote the speciation of plant predators. In addition, molecular techniques allow assessing whether differentiation may arise between different populations of the same insect species depending on their degree of spatial isolation. Given the current dramatic territory fragmentation as a consequence of Global Change, this sort of research has got a conservation interest as well.  By last, the fact that some oak insect predators are considered pests, has led me to propose the practical application of the results to permit their biological control.

Teaching

Along my career I have dedicated time to the training of new researchers. In postgraduate studies I have directed Master and PhD students, who have integrated their work within the framework of my research projects. This has allowed them getting to know first hand the design and execution of a research study in all its stages, what will be very useful for their future as independent researchers. In the case of PhD students, in addition, I have promoted their training in new techniques and the stays in foreign research groups with whom I collaborate.

Currently, my teaching activity in the Degree in Biology is mainly focused on the subject General Zoology. I always try to maintain an evolutionary approach. In Zoology this allows, for example, going beyond the mere memorization of the anatomy of an animal. The evolutionary perspective favours the student´s self-inquiry about how that anatomy has resulted from the action of natural selection. This leads, in turn, to the comparison among species subjected to different selective pressures, being this type of comparative analyses essential in any modern approach to this subject.