I obtained my BSc in Biology (Botany) in 2007 at the University Commplutense of Madrid -UCM-. During the BSc I got a collaboration grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education (MEC) to work at the Department of Plant Biology (UCM) which allowed me to participate in several articles and to write a book. After the graduation I got my MSc on Environmental Science and Technology; at the University Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), and I started the PhD (2008) at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) with a FPI scholarship, under the supervision of Dr. Valladares and Dr. Escudero. I obtained my PhD degree in 2013 as International doctorate; with maxima cum laude distinction and the PhD Excellence Award. Subsequently, I got a postdoctoral grant at the URJC for six months (2013), after which I moved to Paris in 2014 as a post-doctoral researcher in collaboration with Dr Claire Damesin. In 2016 I obtained a Juan de la Cierva-Formación fellow at the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC) in collaboration with Dr. J.J. Camarero. Then I had a one year contract the Universitat de Lleida in collaboration with Víctor Resco de Dios. I'm currently at University de Alcalá with a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación contract. 

During the PhD I focused my research on the assessment of the impacts of global change on forest composition and dynamics. The main objective was to understand the mechanisms leading to species coexistence and diversity maintenance under increasing aridity. Using field data, experimental and observational approaches I addressed fundamental ecological questions by studying spatial patterns of tree species, regeneration processes and trends of growth and physiological performance of individuals at inter- and intra-annual scales. 

The skills acquired at the MNCN were complemented with several courses and short-term research stays of 3 months each. Specifically, I collaborated with outstanding researchers at different internationally recognized research centres: Dr. Kunstler (Cemagref, France); Dr. Scherer-Lorenzen (UFreiburg, Germany); Dr. Miriti (OSU, USA) and Dr. Sack (UCLA, USA). Moreover, during the PhD I actively participated in the European FP7 project BACCARA. In the frame of this this project I collaborated with several European institutions in France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Poland, where I conducted field measurements, developed scientific protocols and discussions, reflecting my collaborative attitude and increasing my international connections. All these studies and collaborations led to more than 10 publications international scientific journals.

 

In the post-doctoral stage I collaborated in the project CNPq of Brasil with Dr. Meira Neto. Further, the post-doctoral stay at the Univerité Paris Sud (France) during 18 months allowed me to work on the characterization of the tree dysfunctioning and look for early indicators of functional sensitivity to climatic constraints. I obtained a JdC-Formacion at the IPE-CSIC where I studied the forest decline and tree vulnerability to climate change through the assessment of growth, wood anatomy, density and oxygen and carbon stable isotopes. Moreover, I studied how the structural diversity confers resilience to drought in woody plant communities to understand the implications for adaptation to climatic change. I'm part of the Tplus3 network, collaborating with several researchers from 5 countries. At the University of Lleida I studied the influence of photoperiod on different species functioning. Currently, I work at the Univserity of Alcalá, at the group of Invasive Species (https://especiesinvasoras.weebly.com/equipo.html) in close collaboration with Dr. Pilar Castro-Díez. I focus my studies on the effects of invasive tree species on functional diversity and the differences in tree performance between invasive and native trees.