My early scientific activities as research technician addressed the conservation planning of an Iberian endemic lizard (Lacerta schreiberi) using Species Distribution Models (SDM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Research during the Ph.D. thesis aimed the biological characterisation of a threatened Iberian viper (Vipera latastei) for conservation planning. I engaged as a post-doctoral researcher at CIBIO/UP multiple collaborations to expand the research on vipers, focusing on geographical variation patterns in biological parameters and in the novel combination of Geostatistics, GIS and SDM for studying biogeographic patterns and evolutionary and landscape processes at multiple scales using morphological and molecular markers. Research on deserts and arid regions expanded during the post-doctoral activities at CIBIO/UP, where currently I am a Principal Researcher, and use contemporary spatial and molecular tools. Research has been focused on three main topics: biodiversity distribution, evolutionary and landscape processes, and conservation planning. A total of 29 fieldwork missions in Africa have been developed, totalling nearly 900 work-days, mostly in Mauritania and Morocco. The research efforts have been rewarded with increasingly exceptional achievements during the last years, including, among other things: 1) the ability to attract competitive funding; 2) the successful advanced training of human resources, including Ph.D. and M.Sc. students; 3) the technology transfer and collaborations with international scientists, including researchers from Universities in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Senegal, and local Protected Areas, such as the UNESCO World Heritage PN Banc d’Arguin; and 4) the award of two grants by the highly prestigious National Geographic Society for the investigation of biogeographic and evolutionary patterns in isolated vertebrates from Mauritania, using Nile crocodiles as a case study, and phylogeographic patterns in desert lizards, respectively. Since 2011, I lead the group BIODESERTS – Biodiversity of Deserts and Arid Regions.

Useful Links:

Research ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-7831-2010

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5444-8132