 I'm PhD in Biology from the University of Barcelona since 1988. My thesis focused on the colonization of America by Drosophila subobscura using classical genetic markers, such as lethal genes and chromosomal inversions. This species was found in the New World in 1978 and hence my interest in the invasion and colonization of new habitats by different species.
In my post-doctorate at the University of California at Irvine, I continued studying this issue, and later I started using molecular markers (nucleotide sequences of nuclear genes).
I have also dealt with the topic of climate change by observing changes in the chromosomes of D. subobscura over time and whether they vary according to the global warming expectations. Although I still have research projects using this species, some time ago I changed the environment “air” for the environment “marine”.
I’m still studying similar evolutionary problems, but using the marine crabs Liocarcinus depurator and Geryon longiopes in Atlantic and Mediterranean populations. We analyze their population distribution in relation to the barriers generated by oceanic currents and the effect of physical parameters from the sea in their genetic variation. Currently, we use sequences of mitochondrial gene COI as molecular marker.
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