CV overview

CURRICULUM VITAE

Find attached below a copy of my CV (July 2024).  Additionally, for transparency and rigor, in each subsection of this CV section, find attached most of my diplomas and certificates, together with a detailed explanation.

CV OVERVIEW

I am an evolutionary botanist who has focused his career on the study of biogeography, phylogeography, island biology and conservation, from an evolutionary and ecological perspective. I have acquired this experience throughout my years of graduate research, PhD, postdocs and now as an assistant professor at UCM. I obtained a M. Sc. in conservation biology (2010) and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution in the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Nov. 2015). In 2017 I performed a postdoctoral contract at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), and in 2018-2020 at Stellenbosch University (Stellenbosch, South Africa). I have worked and stayed in several centres, both national (4 centres) and international (4 in Europe, 2 in Africa, 1 in Antarctica, 1 in Asia) and I have led field expeditions (> 10) in 5 continents. This has allowed me to establish a wide network of international collaborators with whom I maintain active collaborations. I have published works with all these authors, thus achieving a successful international production.
Throughout these years I have achieved a first level scientific productivity, orienting my production towards rigorous and internationally recognized journals. I have published 20 JCR articles in Q1 journals in my area (in the last 9 years), where I am both first author and corresponding author (leader) in 9 of them,  all with Impact Factor > 3.7. In addition, I have published 3 book chapters and 4 conservation, scientific and technical reports. I have accumulated about 600 citations (500 in the last 5 years; 50% of citations for my work as first author; h-index: 12; i-index: 14). My production has been awarded in several occasions (9 awards, e.g. Postdoctoral Fellow Award for Exceptional Achievement (2019), National Conservation Award César Gómez Campo ( 2019). I have reviewed 95 articles for 26 JCR journals and rendered my services to four panels and two Public Agencies.I have participated in 22 research projects, including 15 competitive projects of 3 years or more, and 7 competitive projects of 1 to 3 years. In 2016 I executed two research projects (obtained in competitive calls), as project manager for endangered plant species. I have also participated in 4 Teaching Innovation projects. I am currently the Principal Investigator for three teaching and dissemination projects: a FECYT project (2023-2024; Convocatoria de Ayudas para el Fomento de la Cultura Científica, Tecnológica y de la Innovación), a UCM Teaching Innovation Project (2023-2024), and a UCM Service-Learning project (2023-2024).

My teaching background has focused on teaching plant biodiversity, with special emphasis on evolutionary biology, conservation biology and bio/phylogeography. Throughout my career I have taught at 6 universities (Charles U., Stellenbosch U., UCM, Menéndez Pelayo U., U. Politécnica de Madrid, U. of Helsinki) in 11 different subjects (e.g. Botany, Evolution, Plant Biodiversity), for a total of 866,5 hours of teaching as a responsible professor. I have successfully supervised 22 student projects, among them: 1 Ms. C. theses, 12 Bs. C. theses, 8 Iniciación a la Investigación, and 1 remote internship. My teaching has been rated  positively in the Docentia program (with average ratings above 9 in Evolutionary Biology and Analysis of Plant Biodiversity). I have created my own course, the Island Phylogeography
Course (IPC) which I have taught at Charles University and Stellenbosch University (rated 4.9/5).

I have a passion for dissemination, communication and scientific outreach (2 communication Awards). I have contributed to 30 scientific meetings (14 international), where I have given 23 oral presentations. I have been invited to give 6 lectures (2 plenary talks) and 4 invited workshops. I am committed to the university’s commitment to disseminate and transfer knowledge to society. I am involved in the organization of numerous outreach days and botany seminars. I lead several biodiversity awareness and conservation projects using citizen science. I am editor of Conservación Vegetal journal, the only plant conservation journal in Spanish. I have published 9 outreach articles. I oversee the Outreach Working Group of SEBICOP (Spanish Society of Plant Conservation Biology). I am the promotor and national coordinator of the Biomaratón de Flora Española, an activity that has been labelled as the largest botany-focused citizen participation event ever organized in Spain (with over 6000 participants in its 4 editions).