Temporal Ecology and Biogeography Lab
The team
Dr Sandra Nogué
Team leader
My main interest is studying how plant biodiversity is changing, mainly on island ecosystems. To achieve this, I use microfossil datasets and global synthesis. I am increasingly interested in bioinformatics.
Researcher
Dr Sergi Pla Rabes
My primary research consists of understanding the response of ecosystems and communities to global change. I emphasise understanding the role of time (legacies of the past) and space in shaping their responses to present and past environmental variability and anthropogenic disturbances. To this end, I use long-term paleoecological records from remote “island” locations (oceanic islands, polar, and mountain environments).
Postdoctoral researcher
Dr Xaali O'Reilly Berkeley
I am an ecological geneticist with a background in metabarcoding eDNA. My experience includes both lab work and tropical field work. I joined the TEB Lab to work on the TIME-LINES project, using sedimentary ancient DNA to study changes in biodiversity on islands over time.
PhD student
Elena Baños Lara
My PhD within the TEMPOINVASIONS project investigates the long-term impacts of marine biological invasions across various intertidal anthropogenized sites in Europe. Utilizing sedimentary ancient DNA from sediment cores, my research will focus on detecting introduction times and studying the historical dynamics of invasive species.
Technician
Maria Rigat
I am a biologist diving into the paleoecology world. Currently, I am working on the TEMPOINVASIONS project, supporting the search and systematization of scientific papers, as well as the analysis of sediment samples using XRF techniques. Meanwhile, I am aiming to learn how anthropogenic impact on a long-term scale can affect the current environmental situation.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow
Dr Mariana García Criado
​I am an ecologist researching plant biodiversity dynamics in polar regions both through macroecological data syntheses and through local-based research via fieldwork. In my current Marie Skłodowska-Curie research fellowship, I am researching the potential for adaptation to climate change of polar cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) in both the Arctic and Antarctic poles.
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PhD student
Javier de la Casa Sánchez
I am interested in the changing elemental composition of ecosystems due to the effects of the Anthropocene. Through the lens of biogeochemistry in paleoecological records, we look for unravel natural and anthropogenic impacts; and shed light to the causes and consequences of relevant shifts in the ecosystem elementomes.
PhD student
Judit Rodrigo Navarro
I'm an environmental biologist interested in how past vegetation dynamics can help us better understand today’s ecosystems. To explore this, I am reconstructing plant communities in the Seychelles Islands using proxies from sedimentary records, with a particular focus on native palm species.
Visiting researchers
Researcher
Lea de Nascimento
I am an ecologist and professor at the University of La Laguna, working on long-term changes in island environments and vegetation, particularly in Macaronesia. My research integrates conventional and novel palaeoecological techniques to reconstruct past landscapes and assess the role of human activity in shaping island ecosystems over time. By embedding palaeoecological insights into contemporary ecological frameworks, my work aims to inform effective conservation and management strategies.
PhD student, University of Bayreuth
Franka Gaiser
I am a paleoecologist with a background in environmental and data sciences. I study past biodiversity change and human activity with proxies from sedimentary records on vast spatial scales. My project with the TEB-Lab is about reconstructing the change in functional diversity of vegetation before, during and after human colonisation of islands in Macaronesia.
Past members
Former postdoctoral researcher
Erik de Boer
I am a paleoecologist focusing on the interactions between humans, climate, and ecosystems, and have a specific interest in studying the consequences of extinction on islands. During my time as part of the TEB Lab, I was working on the TEMPOINVASIONS project.