Cristina Linares, ICREA Academy 2019
The ICREA Academy 2019 program has distinguished the scientific trajectory of Dr. Cristina Linares, professor of the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the Faculty of Biology and member of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the UB.
The ICREA Academy program thus contributes to intensifying the research carried out by university teachers who are in a fully active and expansive phase of their research career. Winners receive a grant to do research over a five-year period.
Cristina Linares obtained her doctorate at the UB in 2006, then spent two months at the University of Santa Cruz (California) and two years and three months at the Center d’Oceanologie de Marseille, CNRS. In 2009, she returned to the University of Barcelona first as Juan de la Cierva and since 2012 as Ramon y Cajal apothecary researcher. During this period, she conducted research stays at the ARC Center for Excellence of Coral Reef Studies (Townsville, Australia) working with Terry Hughes and the University of Hawaii (Mānoa, USA) with Camilo Mora. Since April 2017, she has been a associate professor until July 2020 that she became full professor in the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences. In 2019, his research career was recognized with an ICREA Academy Award.
His research focuses primarily on understanding the responses of Mediterranean marine benthic ecosystems to global change to provide useful information for the conservation and restoration of marine coastal ecosystems. His research combines data from long-term data series, experimental studies using in situ and aquarium experiments, and modeling tools.
His research program has focused on: 1) coastal marine ecosystems due to increasing pressure from human activities; 2) long-lived sessile species as model species given their fragility in the face of growing disturbances and their role in providing structural complexity to communities; and 3) marine reserves and restoration actions, which are the fundamental tools for the conservation of marine ecosystems.
His research contributes to the conservation of marine ecosystems, through the transfer of knowledge to public entities and administrations.