Biography

Full Professor of King Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid. His research is focused on plant conservation biology, using ecological and genetic approaches, having worked with narrowly distributed endemics, alpine plants threatened by climate change and crop wild relatives. He has studied the population dynamics, plant-pollinator interactions and local adaptation processes of alpine plants and their responses to climate change, assessing patterns of adaptation in marginal populations. He has published over 120 research articles in scientific journals and more than 100 publications as books and book chapters and articles of scientific dissemination. He has led 47 research projects as principal investigator with a total budget of over 1.400.000 Euros and participated in more than 80 funded national and international research projects (5th, 6th, 7th Framework Programs of the European Union, as well as the H2020, AGRIGENRES and LIFE programs. The relevance of his scientific publications and their contribution to generation of knowledge, ideas and practical applications rely on three dimensions: 1) the successful application of demographic, ecological and genetic approaches for the diagnosis and evaluation of threatened plant populations. 2) the integrated climate change vulnerability assessment of Mediterranean alpine plant populations, involving demographic, genetic, ecological, and evolutionary approaches. 3) The development of a conceptual basis and detailed methodology for the conservation of crop wild relatives. This research has been performed in the context of the Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves Working Group of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) and the implementation of four European Commission funded projects (PGR Forum, AEGRO, PGR Secure, Farmer’s Pride). At the national level, it has resulted in the development of the Spanish National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Food Plants approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Autonomous Communities in 2022. Former Director of the International Doctoral School of King Juan Carlos University. Former Secretary General of OPTIMA (Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area). Vice-Chair of Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves WG (ECPGR). Vice-President of the Spanish Society of Plant Conservation Biology (SEBICOP).