MITACS Accelerate Project Plankton food web pathways to juvenile salmon, University of British Columbia, Canada
2018 - current.
The trophic structure of the Salish Sea plankton food web: defining functional groups, energy pathways, and a mechanistic interface between biochemical and fish centric ecosystem models.
BIO-C3 project, Stockholm University, Sweden
2016 - 2017
The BIO-C3 project, as part of the BONUS Program, through a multi-level, multidisciplinary approach, aims at determining the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the Baltic Sea, as well as at assessing the human-environment interactions and applying tool for an integrative, adaptive management. My role in the project is to estimate the potential conflict between seal and fisheries in the Baltic Sea from an ecosystemic perspective and to model the ecological role of the seals in the Baltic food-webs.
EMOTION Project, IRD Sète, France
2015 - 2016
Within the framework of the EMOTION project, I aim to elucidate the reproductive strategies of female yellowfin and skipjack tunas in the Indian Ocean. I am using lipid and fatty acid analyses of different tissues and comparing the fatty acid composition and allocation between fish sizes and reproductive stages, and also between free-swimming and FAD-associated individuals.
EMOTION Project, IRD Sète, France
2015 - 2016
Also during my postdoctoral work at the IRD, I performed analyses of the trophic ecology of adult and juvenile albacore tuna to try to elucidate what is the link between the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic albacore tunas and from which the juveniles observed in South Africa come from. I used lipid, fatty acid, stable isotopes and stomach content data, among others.
Postdoctoral fellow, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa ​2013 - 2015
At the NMMU, I assessed and compared the food-webs of estuaries in South Africa, carrying out analysis of C & N stable isotopes from fish, plankton and detritus samples. Moreover, I implemented, for the first time in Africa, the use of biochemistry techniques (RNA/DNA quantification) for the evaluation of the nutritional condition of fish larvae. Although this project has been completed, one of the papers is still under review.
​I also studied the condition and growth rates of larval anchovy from two of the main spawning regions in the South African shores, using both otolith and biochemical analyses, in order to answer whether there is a shift of the main spawning area towards the East and why this could be happen.
PhD student, Institute of Marine Sciences, Spain
​2007 - 2012
​During my PhD I studied the feeding ecology of small pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea, working in an international and multidisciplinary project (SARDONE). I organized and participated in several research cruises to collect samples of phytoplankton, zooplankton, CTD and fishes. I used analytical methods such as stomach contents, lipid and fatty acid analyses and stable isotopes analysis. Some of the outcomes of my dissertations pointed out how the trophic dynamics of these populations might be affected by the climate change through alterations of the planktonic assemblages.
My PhD thesis has produced five papers in scientific journals and has provided me with excellent expertise in the methods of study of the marine food-webs, facilitated the development of state of the art ecological methods and led me to acquire interest and expertise in fisheries management.
Research assistant, Center of Advanced Studies, Spain
​2005 - 2006
​In my first professional research experience I studied the trophic relationships between invertebrates and the seagrass beds, using stable isotopes analysis and experimental work to evaluate how crustaceans and molluscs respond to differences in nutrient concentrations and to what extent this might affect their dietary preferences.
Research projects
Current projects
Previous projects
Technical skills
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Ecopath with Ecosim software.
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Quantitave skills and use of statistical softwares (R, PRIMER, SPSS, etc.).
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Stable isotopes analyses and Bayesian mixing models in aquatic food-webs.
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Laboratory biochemical procedures, including lipid, protein and nucleic acid quantification for the study of fish condition indices and plankton energetic content analysis.
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Oceanographic and fisheries sampling desing and organisation on board of both scientific and fishing vessels.
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Experimental work and aquaria maintenance.
Languages
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Spanish, mother tongue.
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English, full proficiency.
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Catalan, full proficiency.
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French, intermediate level.