Lucía Sainz Escudero

I am a conservation biologist interested in invertebrate fauna, particularly crustaceans. During my doctoral period at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Spain), I used molecular and ecological tools to contribute to the preservation of small branchiopods inhabiting temporary freshwater ecosystems.

By integrating taxonomy, phylogeography, ecology and population genomics, I seek to increase our knowledge about crustacean biodiversity and provide useful data for conservation decision-making. Besides, as a way to promote the protection of nature, I try to transfer my research outcomes to society through outreach activities that raise awareness about environmental issues and biodiversity conservation.

Fairyscape, the new project that is about to start, will study the response to climate change of two species of freshwater crustaceans (Anostraca) widespread in Norway. We will use landscape genomics tools to detect genetic signals of adaptation in populations, to identify the environmental elements that promote the spread of adaptive traits and evolutionary potential, and to predict the range shift potential to future ranges under climate change scenarios.