The main research lines he works on focus on the biogeochemistry of continental aquatic systems, with special attention to high-mountain lake basins. This research aims to identify the effects of environmental change (climate and pollution) on biogeochemical processes in these basins and how this is recorded in lake sediments. Two main aspects are studied:
- Current limnological dynamics, which includes both local studies (atmospheric deposition chemistry, seasonal and interannual cycles of river and lake chemistry, trace element transport associated with particles, weathering) and regional studies across the entire Pyrenees (lake and soil chemistry) and its modeling.
- Paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on the biogeochemical composition of lake sediments (effects of climate change during the Holocene, reconstruction of trace element pollution during the historical period).
He holds a Bachelor’s degree (1985) and a PhD (1994) in Biology from the University of Barcelona (UB).
PhD Thesis Title: “Regional chemistry of the Pyrenean lakes: bases for the use of mountain lakes as monitoring systems of global acidification,” supervised by J. Catalan.
He was a fellow at the Environmental Service of the Barcelona Provincial Council (1986-87), a predoctoral fellow in the FPI program (1988-91), and at the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation of UB (1993-94).
He held contracts as a highly qualified research support technician at UB (1995-97) and as a researcher at the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation – UB (1998-2001) to develop research at the Centre for High Mountain Research at UB.
He was a researcher under the ‘Ramón y Cajal’ program at the Blanes Advanced Studies Centre – CSIC (2001-2002).
Since June 2002, he has been a Tenured Scientist at the CSIC, specializing in biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems, regional biogeochemistry of the Pyrenees, paleolimnological and biogeochemical study of lake sediments, and paleolimnological reconstruction of environmental change (climate, pollution) and its effects on lakes.
He is the author or co-author of 55 articles in SCI journals, 9 articles in other publications, 10 book chapters, and 40 contributions to national and international conferences.
He has participated in 34 research projects (4 as PI), funded by the European Union (9), various science ministries (7 in the National Program, 2 in the Integrated Actions program, and 2 in the Internationalization program), environmental ministries (4 in the National Parks program), the Government of Catalonia (4), and other funding bodies (6).
He is a member of the CSIC-UB Limnology Associated Unit and the Centre for High Mountain Research (UB).
He is the scientific leader of the Limnological Observatory of the Pyrenees (LOOP – Limnological Observatory of the Pyrenees) (website link).
He is the scientific coordinator of the LTER-Aigüestortes node and a member of the Executive Committee of LTER-Spain.
He represents the Ministry of Environment in the ICP-Waters International Cooperation Program under the Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
He serves as a reviewer for several journals, including Limnologica, Water Air and Soil Pollution, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Organic Geochemistry, Water Research, Hydrology and Earth Systems Science, Environmental Management, Limnology & Oceanography, Journal of Paleolimnology, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Hydrobiologia, and Journal of Limnology.
Research Interests:
- Biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems
- Regional biogeochemistry of the Pyrenees
- Paleolimnological and biogeochemical study of lake sediments
- Paleolimnological reconstruction of environmental change (climate, pollution) and its effects on lakes
- Long-term ecological research
