TEAM
JAIRO PATIÑO
PI
I’m a tenure-track Ramón y Cajal researcher in Botany at La Laguna University. My research program lies at the confluence of biogeography, evolution, conservation biology and systematics, happily fascinated by bryophytes and more recently angiosperms. I am particularly intrigued by ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that shape diversity at different spatial and temporal scales. Much of my ongoing research agenda is devoted to the conservation of island floras. I always enjoy the intriguing experience of visiting for first time a new island and discovering its vegetation.
YURENA ARJONA
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
I’m a postdoc at the Botany department of La Laguna University. I’m currently involved in the ASTERALIEN project and collaborating in the INVASION project. I studied Biology and since my PhD, my research interest is focused on island plant ecology, evolution, and biogeography. I’ve worked in the Galápagos with native angiosperms, applying techniques of population and landscape genomics, and demographic analyses to shed light on the complex process of inter-island dispersal. Now, happy to be back in the Canary Islands, I’m addressing the urgent problem of the introduced invasive species on islands trying to disentangle the keys of their invasiveness.
JAVIER MORENTE
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
I’m a postdoc currently working at the iEcoEvo-Lab. My main research interest is to study, from evolutionary ecology and evolutionary genetics framework, the adaptive processes of plants in response to the ecological variability caused by climate change. During my PhD, I developed a solid methodological and theoretical background in evolutionary biology that enables me to study processes that drive evolutionary change using multidisciplinary approaches such as environmental niche modeling, landscape and population genetics, quantitative genetics and local adaptation experiments.
ELENA DE LA CRUZ
PHD CANDIDATE
I studied the degree in Biology and the master in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Murcia. Since 2015, I am a PhD student in the Department of Plant Biology (Botany) also at the University of Murcia under the supervision of Prof. Rosa Ros and Dr Olaf Werner, and under Jairo Patiño co-supervision. I have enjoyed an FPI contract as a predoctoral researcher in the same department, from 2015 to 2019. Currently, I am finishing my PhD Thesis.
DANIEL SUÁREZ RAMOS
PHD CANDIDATE
Dani’s PhD thesis uses spider species to quantify and understand spatial patterns of similarity, from below the species to community level, using a range of genetic techniques.
REBECCA MAGDALENA KROPP
MSC CANDIDATE
Geographer with special interest in Island Biogeography, Global Change, Climatology, Ecology and Conservation work. Within the iEcoEvoLab I am currently working on my Master Thesis, supervised by Jairo Patiño and Prof. José María Fernández-Palacios, analyzing the relationship between bryophyte diversity and human impact on islands. In the past, I was working as a student research assistant for the project “Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs (FOR2730)”
LOUIS STEVEN JAY
PhD CANDIDATE
Being lucky enough to grow up and study Biology in an Oceanic Archipelago (Canary Islands) I am passionately interested in Botanics, Genetics and Evolution. I am currently a student of the M.Sc. in Terrestrial Biodiversity and Conservation on Islands and working on a Master Thesis in the iEcoEvoLab that is centered around SDM on a genus that includes introduced and endemic species. I will also collaborate on the INVASION project as part of a PhD program
RAÚL ORIHUELA
MSc RESEARCHER
I have a degree in Biology from the University of La Laguna where I am currently cursing the M.Sc in Terrestrial Biodiversity and Conservation on Islands. I am especially interested in the biogeography, ecology and evolution of species in island systems, as well as their interaction with the anthropic effect, such as the introduction of invasive species. In the near future I would like to access to PhD in order to continue studying the flora and vegetation of island ecosystems and their dynamics. I am collaborating in the INVASION project through a collaboration grant.
GUILLERMO SICILIA
BS CANDIDATE
Currently I am finishing my degree in Biology with main interests in Botany, Taxonomy, and Conservation. I’m also working on my Bachelor’s thesis which will be focused on the expansion of an invasive moss on the island of Tenerife. I am really happy to be part of this group and I’m willing to collaborate on the different projects.
RAFAEL SUÁREZ FUENTES
MSC CANDIDATE
I studied Biology at La Laguna University, in Tenerife, and I am currently cursing a M.Sc in Terrestrial Biodiversity and Conservation on Islands. My interests are Island Biogeography, conservation, evolution or popular science, among others. At the moment, I am working on my Master Thesis, which consists in the population genetics of the genus Semele in the Canary Islands. I am also working on a review about lianas and vines ecology, diversity and conservation, with emphasis on their situation in the context of Macaronesia.
ENRIQUE CARO SAAVEDRA
BS CANDIDATE
I’m studying biology at the University of La Laguna. I’ll be presenting my Bachelor Thesis soon. I am interested in biogeography, evolution and ethnobotany. I participate in the EXOINV project. Other disciplines that are of my interest are archaeology, human evolution and its relationship with the environment.
EVA MONEDERO LÓPEZ
BS CANDIDATE
Soon-to-be biologist from the University of La Laguna, with a special interest in conservation, Botany, and popular science. Currently, I am developing my Bachelor thesis, which consists of a mini-review about associations between bryophytes and microalgae. Next year, I will be studying an inter-university Master’s degree in Ecosystem restoration, in Madrid.
COLLABORATORS
AGUSTÍN NARANJO-CIGALA
GEOGRAPHER AND RESEARCHER AT THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND PROFESSOR AT THE FACULTY OF GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
Geographer and researcher at the Department of Geography and professor at the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). It also belongs to the IUNAT Research Institute (Institute of Environmental Studies and Natural Resources). He has been director of the “Aula de la Naturaleza” and an advisory member of the Boards of Natural Protected Areas of the island of La Palma and Caldera de Taburiente National Park, representing the ULPGC.
MARCOS SALAS PASCUAL
RESEARCH MEMBER OF THE ULPGC I-UNAT RESEARCH GROUP AND OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE NATURE CLASSROOM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
Has a degree in Biology from the University of La Laguna and a PhD since 1994. His research is devoted to Botany, a science that he practices from many different perspectives: ethnobotany, vegetation mapping, phytosociology, plant ecology, invasive species, etc. Professionally dedicated to teaching in Secondary, he is currently part of various research groups at the two Canarian universities. He is author of several books and articles in national and foreign magazines. Interested in the pedagogical and informative aspect of science, he manages blogs and profiles on social networks from which he spreads news in the field of invasive alien species. He is currently a member of the ULPGC i-UNAT Research Group and of the Governing Council of the Nature Classroom of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria “Jaime O´Shanahan”.
MARCELINO JOSÉ DEL ARCO AGUILAR
FULL PROFESSOR OF BOTANY. UNIVERSITY OF LA LAGUNA
Full Professor of Botany. University of La Laguna (ULL). Degree and PhD studies at ULL. His teaching activity has been mainly carried out in the Faculties of Biology, Pharmacy and Chemistry, in Bachelor’s degrees, Master degree and PhD programs.
He has performed research visits abroad at the Florence University Botanical Institute (Italy) and at the Department of Botany of the University of California, Davis (USA). His research has been focused on the Canaries, including aspects related to flora, vegetation, bioclimatology, cartography, conservation and climate change. He is author of 19 books, 84 book chapters and 107 scientific papers. He belongs to the ULL research groups “Flora and Vegetation of the Canary Islands” and “Plant Conservation and Biogeography” besides collaborating with other foreign scientific groups.
BRENT EMERSON
RESEARCH SCIENTIST WITHIN THE SPANISH NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (IPNA-CSIC).
Research scientist within the Spanish National Research Council (IPNA-CSIC), based in Tenerife. His research is strongly focussed on invertebrates, particularly the application of molecular genetic tools to understand their evolution and ecology. His involvement in the INVASION project stems from his interest in invasive species, both plant and invertebrate and their consequences for native flora and fauna.
FORMER MEMBERS
FELIPE LISANDRO MONZÓN (2018-2020)
MSc RESEARCHER AND PROJECT PARTICIPANT
Biologist interested in Ecology, Island Biogeography, Biological Conservation, Science Divulgation and Education. In the context of the research group, I developed my Master Thesis under Jairo Patiño supervision. Currently, I participate in the EXOINV project, an initiative dealing with invasive plants on Tenerife, as student and manager of the INGENIA program.
MAURICIO E. BETANCOUR GONZÁLEZ (2019-2020)
BS CANDIDATE
I’m studying my last year of career in the degree Environmental Sciences by University from La Laguna. I’m currently working on my Bachelor thesis, supervised by Jairo Patiño, analyzing the potential distribution and impact of exotic species, such as the genus Ageratina in Anaga Rural Park, in the north of Tenerife. My interests focuses on the conservation of ecosystems and environmental education.
ALEJANDRO RIZO DELGADO (2019-2020)
BS CANDIDATE
I’m a student from the Biology degree at the University of La Laguna. I’ll be soon presenting my my Bachelor thesis about the biogeographical relationships of the Macaronesian cryptogamic flora among the tropics, supervised by Jairo Patiño. Also, I’m part of the EXOINV project funded by the INGENIA program, with some of the iEcoEvo-Lab members. I’m interested in the fields of Biogeography, Genetics, Evolution, Conservation and popular science, among others.
RUNA HOFFMANN (2019-2020)
VISITING - MSC CANDIDATE
I’m doing my M.Sc. in Biodiversity, Evolution & Ecology at Freie University Berlin. 2019 I got the chance to spend one year as an Erasmus student at the Universidad de La Laguna. In February 2020 I became a member of the iEcoEvoLab and started a research project about the evolution of dispersal traits in the genus Carduus, which will be finished soon. My field of work is botaniks, especially the morphological evolution of vascular plants. I’m also highly interested in the history of botanical collections and their importance for research in general.
LUCÍA GONZÁLEZ ROSAS (2019-2020)
COLLABORATOR -MSC CANDIDATE
I have a degree in sociology and I am currently in the last year of the Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of La Laguna. Grateful to be part of this team to investigate how they affect and the knowledge that local communities have of invasive alien species thus contributing to the social dimension of EXOINV project funded by INGENIA. I practice hiking often, so I am interested in nature and its conservation, as well as environmental education and outreach.