Educational Background
- 2007 – 2011 PhD Biology (Paleoecology of the southern Gran Sabana (SE Venezuela) since the Late Glacial to the present), Dep. Animal Biology, Plant Biology & Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Best PhD award.
- 2006 – 2008 MPhil (Diversity and function of Mediterranean ecosystems), Dep. Animal Biology, Plant Biology & Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona
- 2000 – 2005 Biology degree (5-years degree), University of Murcia
Appointments
- 2015 – 2017 Beatriu de Pinos-Marie Curie COFUND postdoctoral fellowship, Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera” (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC)
- 2012 – 2015 NERC Research Fellow, Dep. Environment, Earth & Ecosystems, The Open University (UK)
- 2011 – 2012 Post-doctoral Research, Palynology & Paleoecology Lab, Botanic Institute of Barcelona (IBB)
- 2007 – 2011 PhD studentship (called FPI: Training of Research Staff) grant with reference BES-2007-16308 from the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain associated with the project number 00974-CGL2006
- 2006 – 2007 Assistant lecturer (part time position), Dep. Animal Biology, Plant Biology & Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Academic services
- Secretary of Humans and Biosphere commission (INQUA) for period 2015-2019
- Advisory Board Member of the International Federation of Palynological Societies (IFPS)
- Reviewer/editor tasks:
- Editor of PALYNOS (Newsletter of IFPS)
- Regular reviewer of most important journals (>10) in my discipline since 2011
- Reviewer Editorial Board of two sections in FRONTIERS, and Palynology
- Editor of the HabCom Newsletter (Humans and Biosphere Commission of INQUA; 2012-2015).
- Reviewer of scientific project proposals funded by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), German Research Foundation (DFG), British Ecology Society (BES), International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) or the Dutch Research Foundation (NWO)
- External panel reviewer of international theses dissertation (PhD and master)
Research Interests
- Palaeoecological applications of palynology
- Biotic responses to environmental change and natural hazards
- Vegetation-humans-climate interactions
- Palaeoecology and global warming
- Tropical biodiversity and biogeography
- High-mountain palaeoecology
- The temporal continuum in ecology
- Traditional knowledge for ecosystems services
- Development of new palaeoecological proxies or techniques
- Palaeoethnobotany
Outreach
- Science week (CSIC): 14-18th November 2016. Series of talks and workshops for organised visits of scholars to the Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera” (CSIC).
- Scientific webpage / blog: mauritiastories.wordpress.com
- Interview for newspaper La Opinión (Murcia, Spain) published 10/08/2015 about my career in international academia and research profile.
- Organisation and leadership of the Open Research Meeting of FORSENS project (NERC funding). Hold at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam), Amsterdam 21-22nd August 2015.
- Invited public lecture for scholars and other non-specialist audience at Milton Keynes (UK), recorded and launched online through website within the initiative SUPI/CEPSAR Science Matters, 15/12/2014: http://stadium.open.ac.uk/stadia/preview.php?s=1&whichevent=2478