Figuerola, Blanca

Figuerola, Blanca

Ramón y Cajal (ICM-CSIC)

Blanca Figuerola is currently a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) of Barcelona. She obtained her PhD at the University of Barcelona (UB). Since early stages she has worked with outstanding scientists in a total of 12 research institutions from Spain (UB, ICM-CSIC), New Zealand (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research), Falkland Islands (Falkland Islands Government Fisheries Department), UK (Natural History Museum), Italy (Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn), Poland (Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences), Australia (Australian Antarctic Division, Macquarie Uni), Panama (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) and USA (Texas A&M Uni). There she has acquired solid skills and an extensive experience designing and executing field and lab experiments in Antarctic (5 Antarctic expeditions), tropical and temperate regions. This research has been supported by 16 multidisciplinary projects (10 as PI) and by independently-funded research contracts/grants/awards, including 3 reintegration contracts (Juan la Cierva-Incorporación, 2018; Beatriu de Pinós/COFUND Marie Curie, 2020; Ramón y Cajal, 2023).

Her main current research, especially focusing on marine calcifiers and pioneering poorly known groups such as bryozoans, aims to (1) assess their diversity, (ii) investigate the effects of environmental changes (e.g., ocean warming, acidification and hypoxia) on marine organisms and their associated microbiome and 2) use their fossil record to reconstruct natural and human-driven changes in coastal ecosystems. The final goal is to be able to better predict the future global change impacts on marine ecosystems and generate scientific research that can inform policy decisions. Besides this research line, she is also assessing plastic debris as a dispersal vector of marine invasive species.

Selected articles:

  • Kannan G, Mghili B, Di Martino E, Sanchez-Vidal A, Figuerola B. 2023. Increasing Risk of Invasions by Organisms on Marine Debris in the Southeast Coast of India. Marine Pollution Bulletin 195: 115469.Figuerola B, Griffiths H, Krzeminska M,Piwoni-Piorewicz A, Iglikowska A, Kuklinski P. 2023. Temperature as a likely driver shaping global patterns in mineralogical composition in bryozoans: Implications for marine calcifiers under Global Change. Ecography 06381.
  • Jossart Q, Bauman D, Moreau C.VE, Saucède T, Christiansen H, Brasier MJ, Convey P, Downey R, Figuerola B, Martin P, Norenburg J, Rosenfeld S, Verheye M, Danis B. 2023. A pioneer morphological and genetic study of the intertidal fauna of the Gerlache Strait (Antarctic Peninsula). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 195: 514.
  • Orr RJS, Di Martino E, Ramsfjell M, Gordon DP, Berning B, Chowdhury I, Craig A, Cumming RL, Figuerola B, [24 other authors], Liow LH. 2022. Paleozoic origins of cheilostome bryozoans and parental care inferred by a new genome-skimmed phylogeny. Science Advances 8, eabm7452.
  • Subías-Baratau A, Sanchez-Vidal A, Di Martino E, Figuerola B. 2022. Marine biofouling organisms on beached, buoyant and benthic plastic debris in the Catalan Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin 175: 113405.
  • Figuerola B, Grossman EL, Lucey N, Leonard ND, O'Dea A. 2021. Millennial-scale change on a Caribbean reef system that experiences hypoxia. Ecography 44(9): 1270-1282.
  • Figuerola B, Hancock AM, Bax N, Cummings V, Downey R, Griffiths H, Smith J, Stark JS. 2021. A review and meta-analysis of potential impacts of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers from the Southern Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science 8:584445.

Contact: bfiguerola@gmail.com
Web: bfiguerola.weebly.com
ResearchGate: Blanca Figuerola
Google Schoolar: Blanca Figuerola
ORCID: 0000-0003-4731-9337

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