People

Fernando Ojeda

Principal Investigator; Professor of Botany.

My main research interests are (i) the role of fire in the evolution of mediterranean plants; (ii) the ecology, biogeography and evolution of heathland plants; and (iii) the biodiversity and conservation of the herriza or Mediterranean heathland of the Strait of Gibraltar. Visit my website.

Susana Gómez González

Associate professor in Botany; Adjoint researcher of the CR2, Chile

Research interests: Plant ecology, evolution and management in fire-prone ecosystems, seed ecology and plant invasions.

Ramón Casimiro-Soriguer

Assistant profesor in Botany

My main research interests are centered on (i) plant reproductive biology and plant -animal interactions, (ii) phylogeny and phylogeography of Mediterranean plant taxa and (iii) plant biodiversity and conservation.

Oscar Godoy

«Ramón y Cajal» fellow researcher

I am a community ecologist interested in the maintenance of species diversity. Two questions are the basis of my research. 1) Which are the determinants of species coexistence and exclusion? and 2) Which are the consequences of resulting coexisting species for ecosystem functioning? Approaches to tackle these questions include combining theory with observational studies, manipulative experiments and a strong component of statistical modeling. Visit my website.

Raul Ochoa

«Ramón y Cajal» fellow researcher​

I am interested in understanding the effects of global environmental change on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the link between them. I am also interested in how these undesired impacts affect key ecosystem services such as soil fertility and above-ground and below-ground carbon storage. Visit my website.

Juan Pedro González-Varo

«Ramón y Cajal» fellow researcher​

I am an ecologist broadly interested in the effects of anthropogenic landscape changes on ecological processes, and their consequences for the maintenance of biodiversity.

My research particularly focuses on plant-animal interactions, which have a pivotal role on demographic and genetic processes within populations and communities.

Visit my website.

Bea Rumeu

«Juan de la Cierva Incorporación» researcher

I am an ecologist interested in plant-animal interactions and their ecological and evolutionary consequences, as well as their implications for conservation.

My research career has been mostly focused on island ecosystems and, as an island biologist, I am also highly interested in the biogeography, colonization, and evolution of island biota.

José Luis Blanco

I investigate the evolution and adaptation of plants. In recent years my research has focused on studying the genetic basis of complex traits in plants associated with adaptation to climate and soil. I am particularly interested in using this information to help plant species adapt to future climatic conditions. I have thirteen years of research experience performed in three different countries (Spain, Sweden, and France). Visit my Website.

Jesús Alberto Pérez Romero

«Juan de la Cierva» researcher

Recently I have been working with crop species, studying how their production and physiology is affected under climate change scenarios. However, I mainly study the physiological changes of plants against combinations of different abiotic factors related to climate change. My work is centered on halophytes from Spanish salt marshes. My aim is to know how this physiological changes could modify these species relations with the environment and with other species.

David García Callejas

Postdoctoral researcher

I am a community ecologist broadly interested in understanding the structure and dynamics of ecological assemblages, their spatiotemporal patterns, and their response to global change drivers. In particular, I study the role of biotic interactions in shaping local and regional patterns of diversity and coexistence. In approaching these themes, I aim to bridge theoretical approaches to fundamental questions with field experiments and observations.

Sergio Picó

PhD Candidate

I am broadly interested in how biodiversity is maintained across different systems including terrestrial and marine ecosystems. For that, I analyse temporal time series with bayesian and structural stability approaches. My goal is to understand what features of species demography and their network of interactions promote the stability of ecological systems.

María Hurtado

PhD Candidate

I am broadly interested in how diversity is maintained in ecosystems. For that, I study the interactions between different species and their environment in a natural grassland in Doñana National Park (Seville, Spain). My goal is to understand the mechanisms by which species can coexist maintaining biodiversity over time

Cristina Caetano Sánchez

PhD candidate

BSc in Environmental Sciences and MSc in Conservation Biology (University of Huelva).

Irene Repeto Deudero

PhD Candidate

My research interest mainly focus on the ecological impacts of afforestation in tree-less habitats and their consequences for biodiversity. Using geospatial analysis combined with fieldwork techniques, my goal is to understand how the afforestation of the local heathlands with pine plantations is affecting the surrounding ecosytems at landscape level in Los Alcornocales Natural Park (Cádiz). 

Álvaro Pérez Gómez

PhD candidate

MSc in Conservation, Management and Restoration of Biodiversity (University of Granada, Spain). My research interests include different aspects of arthropod diversity, taxonomy and ecology. I am keen to understand the interactions of arthropods with their environment to help determine the conservation status of this fascinating – but frequently overlooked – group of animals

Lucía Acevedo-Limón

PhD candidate

I am broadly interested on how habitat fragmentation has shaped plant community in perturbed ecosystems.
My research focus on plant-animal interactions and, particularly, on how seed dispersal by animal frugivores can be maintaining the biodiversity in a global change scenario.

Ruben Tarifa

PhD candidate

I am an ecologist interested in the processes that promote more biodiverse agroecosystems, taxonomically and functionally. My goal is to understand the interdependent effects of agricultural practices and landscape on biodiversity, ecosystem services and effectiveness of the agri-environmental measures

Claudio A. Bracho

PhD candidate

MSc in Ecology & in GIS. I am broadly interested in how biodiversity and ecosystem services are shaped through the spatial dimension. For that, I focus on the study of frugivorous bird – seed dispersal interactions and its important implications under global change.

Marta Linares Torralvo

Research Support Technician

Biologist specialized in wildlife management, MSc. My main field of interest is animal health related to human interferences and unexpected environmental disturbances. How living beings adapt themselves to overcome external changes inevitably catches my attention and my eagerness to understand more. Within FEBIMED team, I work as a research support technician for the PDI staff.