Mariana García Criado

I am currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at CREAF, where I am currently researching the potential for adaptation to climate change of polar cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) in both the Arctic and Antarctic poles, together with Dr Sandra Nogué. In my research, I employ two main lines of work: 

1. I undertake large-scale syntheses through a macroecological lens to understand biome-level patterns of biodiversity.
2. I conduct local-based research by collecting data across polar sites to understand site-scale processes.

Between 2017-2015, I worked at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, where I completed my PhD in Plant Macroecology and then worked as a postdoc in the EU-funded project CHARTER and the NERC-funded project TundraTime. During my time at Edinburgh, I researched large-scale patterns and trends in Arctic plant diversity, abundance and distribution, and the impacts of climate change on them. Before that, I studied a MSc Biodiversity Conservation (Bournemouth University, UK) and a BSc Environmental Science (University of Extremadura, Spain).

Prior to my research career, I worked at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Brussels, particularly on the IUCN Red List of threatened species and projects related to invasive species and protected areas. I have also been a member of the Scottish Science Advisory Council (SSAC), providing scientific advice for evidence-based policy-making to Scottish Government, and I remain active at the science-policy interface.

I love wild swimming, reading, live music, photography and (unsurprisingly) walking in nature.