Biography

I have always been interested in nature and biodiversity, so I studied biology. In 2016 I obtained a degree in Biology from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. As another great passion in my life, astronomy and studying the universe have always interested me. As a result, I became interested in astrobiology, which combines my two great passions, astronomy and biology. This is why I completed my internship at the Astrobiology Center (CAB) at the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). Due to my interest in evolution, I knew I would always be interested in studying life’s origins. In 2016 I obtained a grant for the Promotion of Research in Master’s Studies-UAM 2016 in order to pursue a “Master in Biotechnology ” program at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. It was in 2016 that I met Christian Landry’s lab, and I was fascinated by their different approaches to studying evolution at the molecular level. Therefore, I decided to apply for a master’s degree in his group. I completed an accelerated passage in 2019 and I am currently completing a doctorate combining astrobiology and evolutionary biology. During my master’s and first doctoral years, I was fortunate to be supported by the prestigious “La Caixa” Scholarship. Currently, I am funded by the Quebec government through an FQRNT scholarship.

Research interests

I am interested in the study of astrobiology and evolution in extreme environments. My research goal is to understand how organisms can adapt to these environments and to determine the molecular basis of these adaptations. My current research project is to determine whether hybridization between species can help species adapt better to extreme conditions. Through experimental evolution combined with evolutionary ecological genomics, I can apply strong selective pressures and examine their genomic consequences during evolution.