I am a Research Scientist at the ICM-CSIC with a wide experience in marine microbial ecology, with special focus on protist ecology and evolution. My broad research line is the study of the phylogenetic and functional diversity of marine eukaryotic microbes, using a diverse set of tools including microscopy, metabarcoding, metagenomics, single cell genomics, and visualization of specific populations by FISH. I am particularly interested in opening the black box of heterotrophic flagellates and exploring the role of these unpigmented protists in marine food webs as bacterial grazers and nutrient remineralizers. I coordinated a European consortium to promote Single Cell Genomics in microbial eukaryotes and more recently I am moving to a more functional approach by using a gene perspective. In particular, I am trying to determine the gene machinery used by unpigmented protists to carry out the process of phagocytosis. My more than 30 years of expertise has resulted in the publication of 175 scientific papers (H index of 69). I have been continually funded as PI, which has allowed to train postdoctoral and PhD scholars, and consolidate several technicians. I am regularly invited in international and national meetings, and I am very active in reviewing activities.
