I completed my B.Sc. in Environmental Science and my M.Sc. in Biodiversity Conservation and Ecology at URJC in Madrid. During that time, I developed a wide interest in ecology and marine science that led me to work investigating the effects of different global change drivers; habitat fragmentation, invasive species and climate change driven shifts in species distribution and phenology. In 2019 I was awarded a research fellowship – Mres, supported by the Irish EPA, at UCC (Cork, Ireland) and graduated with distinction in 2021. During this time, I investigated phenological synchrony between interlinked species (i.e., primary producers – primary consumers – secondary consumers) and the influence of scale in climate drivers in the study of phenological asynchronies. This work illustrated the value of using fine scale drivers to explore climate sensitivity in interlinked taxa (i.e., woodland vegetation, lepidoptera, migrant birds) while also suggested a number of phenological asynchronies over time for different species combinations, particularly in the upper levels (primary consumers-secondary consumers). 

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In 2021 I joined the CoralAssist lab at Newcastle University as a Ph.D. candidate. In my project, I am investigating the environmental cues that influence reproductive phenology of scleractinian corals. I am working to determine the effect of several environmental driver’s critical time windows for coral spawning.  Further, I am investigating variation in spawning patterns of different coral families over an environmental gradient within the Indo-Pacific. In order to address these research questions my project involves the use of different approaches such as ecological modelling, manipulative aquarium experiments and field work. I have a particular interest in finding out how different environmental drivers influence coral spawning at different time scales, month of spawning, night of spawning and time after sunset. Currently, I am investigating the role of moonlight-darkness dynamics as proximate cue determining night of spawning. To identify shifts in spawning night we conducted two manipulative field experiments in Palau, and we plan to carry out an arrange of mesocosm experiments to study the response of different coral families.In my project I will also evaluate the role of SST, lunar cycle and light dynamics in the spawning patterns of several coral genera and families.