I am a wildlife ecologist whose research adopts an integrative, interdisciplinary approach, combining disciplines ranging from physiology to statistical modelling to address complex questions in wildlife disease and management. Rather than focusing on a single component, I seek to understand how biological, environmental, and anthropogenic factors interact to shape wildlife health, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes. I also seek to determine how habitat characteristics shape these processes, particularly how changes in primary productivity and food resources modify host populations’ responses to pathogen communities. Human activities are another central component of my research agenda. Practices such as hunting, supplementary feeding, livestock production, agriculture, and logging have shaped terrestrial ecosystems for centuries, and changes in these activities can directly affect the distribution, abundance, and interactions of both hosts and pathogens. At the same time, I am interested in the capacity of human societies to contribute to ecological restoration and ecosystem resilience through sustainable management and long-standing forms of environmental stewardship, including those developed by hunter-gatherer communities over millennia.

Degrees and Positions

• B.Sc. in Biological Sciences, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2000)
• M.Sc. in Wildlife Management, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2002)
• Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2004)
• Predoctoral Fellow, Dpto. de Biología Animal, Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2000–2003)
• Research Support Staff, Dpto. de Biología Animal, Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2004–2005)
• Foreign Researcher, Behaviour and Ecology Wildlife Unit, CEFS-INRA, Toulouse, France (2005–2006)
• MEC Postdoctoral Fellow, Behaviour and Ecology Wildlife Unit, CEFS-INRA, Toulouse, France (2006–2008)
• Research Support Staff, Dpto. de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Spain (2008)
• Juan de la Cierva Research Fellow, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain (2009–2012)
• Research Support Staff, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain (2012)
• Beatriu de Pinós Research Fellow, Àrea d’Estadística, Departament de Matemàtica, Universitat de Lleida, Spain (2012–2014)
• Research Support Staff, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain (2014)
• FCT Researcher and Lecturer, Departamento de Biologia and CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal (2014–2018)
• Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain (2018–2023)
• Associate Professor, Dept. Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain (since 2023)

Editorial Board Membership

Ecological Indicators (since 2020); Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (since 2021); Frontiers in Veterinary Science (since 2021); Galemys – Spanish Journal of Mammalogy (since 2012); Integrative Zoology (since 2022); International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (since 2019); Journal of Parasitology Research (since 2014); Mammalian Biology (since 2015); PeerJ (since 2024); PLOS ONE (since 2015); Wildlife Letters (since 2022).

Peer-Review Activity

Acta Parasitologica; Advanced Science; Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment; Animal Behaviour; Animal Biodiversity and Conservation; Animal Frontiers; Animals; Austral Journal of Veterinary Sciences; Basic and Applied Ecology; BioEssays; Biological Conservation; Biology; Biology Letters; Brazilian Journal of Biology; Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology; Cell; Colombian Journal of Animal Science; Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Complexity; Conservation Physiology; Current Research in Parasitology & Vector-Borne Diseases; Current Zoology; Discover Conservation; Diversity; Drones; Ecography; Ecological Applications; Ecological Indicators; Ecology & Evolution; Ecosphere; Environmental Pollution; Environmental Research; Environmental Reviews; Ethology; European Journal of Wildlife Research; Forest; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; Frontiers in Environmental Science; Frontiers in Physiology; Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems; Frontiers in Veterinary Science; Frontiers in Remote Sensing; Galemys Spanish Journal of Mammalogy; Global Change Biology; Global Ecology; Heliyon; Hystrix-Italian Journal of Mammalogy; Immunology Journal; Infection Ecology & Epidemiology; Infectious Diseases of Poverty; Infectious Disorders and Drug Targets; Integrative Zoology; International Journal for Biodiversity and Conservation; International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; International Journal of Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife; International Journal of Pest Management; International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation/Revista de Biologia Tropical; International Journal of Tropical Disease & Health; International Journal of Veterinary Science and Research; ISRN-Ecology; Italian Journal of Zoology-European Zoological Journal; Journal for Nature Conservation; Journal of Animal Ecology; Journal of Applied Ecology; Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science; Journal of Arid Environments; Journal of Cell and Animal Biology; Journal of Disease Markers; Journal of Environmental Management; Journal of Forest Science; Journal of Helminthology; Journal of Infection in Developing Countries; Journal of Mountain Science; Journal of Parasitology Research; Journal of Tropical Medicine; Journal of Veterinary Science; Journal of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry; Journal of Wildlife Diseases; Journal of Wildlife Management; Landscape Ecology; Lancet Microbe; Mammal Research-Acta Theriologica; Mammal Review; Mammal Study; Mammalia; Mammalian Biology; Microorganisms; Nature-Scientific Reports; Oikos; OPEN Forum of Infectious Diseases; ORSIS; Pakistan Journal of Zoology; Parasite Epidemiology and Control; Parasitology; Parasitology and Vector Biology; Parasitology Research; Parasites & Vectors; Pathogens; PCI Ecology; Peer J; People and Nature; PLoS ONE; Preventive Veterinary Medicine; Queios; Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali; Research in Veterinary Science; Restoration Ecology; Royal Society Open Science; Science of the Total Environment; Scienta Agricola; Small Ruminant Research; The Open Zoology Journal; The Rangeland Journal; Transboundary and Emerging Diseases; Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases; UICN Assessment Report; Veterinary Journal: Research and Reports; Veterinary Medicine International; Veterinary Parasitology; Veterinary Research; Veterinary Sciences; Wildlife Biology; Wildlife Letters; Wildlife Monographs; Wildlife Research; Zoology.

Research Agencies and Programs Served as an Evaluator

Agència Valenciana d’Avaluació i Prospectiva; Croatian Science Foundation; Fund for Scientific Research–FNRS, Belgium; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal; Icelandic Research Fund; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; National Geographic Society Research Program; National Natural Science Foundation of China/Research Grants Council Joint Research Scheme; Swiss National Science Foundation.

Memberships of Scientific Societies

Sociedad Española de Estudio y Conservación de los Mamíferos (SECEM), since 2001. Committee member. https://secem.es/

British Ecological Society (BES), since 2018. Committee member of the SIG on Parasites & Pathogens Ecology and Evolution https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/