Regino Zamora
Professor of Ecology
Regino Zamora Rodríguez holds a PhD in Biological Sciences and is a Professor of Ecology at the University of Granada. His primary field of research focuses on the study of ecological interactions and their consequences for communities and ecosystem processes within global change scenarios. He has published over 200 research articles—many of them highly cited—primarily in international journals of general and applied ecology. He is also the author of the book "The Landscape of Sierra Nevada: A Unique Laboratory of Global Processes in Spain," published by Springer Nature (2022). Regino Zamora is one of the most cited Spanish ecologists and has been included in the "Ranking of the World Scientists: World’s Top 2% Scientists" (Stanford University). He possesses extensive experience in coordinating human teams, both in research and in the management and promotion of scientific activity for various national (ANEP, AEI, CNEAI) and international agencies. His academic and research activity at the University of Granada is complemented by ongoing collaboration with public administrations responsible for environmental management, promoting the knowledge transfer and application of scientific findings to the conservation, management, and restoration of ecosystems. In this regard, he serves as the Scientific Coordinator of the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory.
Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno
Professor
Expert in paleoecology and paleoclimate through pollen analysis in lacustrine and marine sedimentary records. He has conducted research in southern Spain (specifically on Quaternary records in Sierra Nevada), as well as in various locations across Europe. Thanks to a postdoctoral stay in the US, he has also worked on numerous sedimentary sequences from Quaternary lakes and wetlands in the American Southwest. He is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) of a research project funded by MINECO and has supervised four PhD students and more than ten Master’s students.
Javier Cabello Piñar
Professor of Botany, UAL
Biologist and Professor of Botany at the University of Almería, where he directs the Andalusian Center for Global Change (ENGLOBA). His research focuses on biodiversity monitoring and the assessment of ecosystem functioning and services, with a particular emphasis on their application in conservation and adaptive management in the face of global change. He has led ecological monitoring initiatives at a national scale, integrating remote sensing, ecological indicators, and socio-ecological approaches to support decision-making in protected natural areas.
He has collaborated with the Ministry of the Environment and the European Commission in developing habitat monitoring protocols within the framework of the Habitats Directive and the Natura 2000 Network. His knowledge transfer work is aimed at integrating scientific knowledge into environmental management and public policy, promoting the use of ecological indicators and ecosystem services in the planning and governance of natural spaces.
Enrique Pérez Sánchez-Cañete
Associate Professor at the UGR Department of Applied Physics
J. Alberto Aragón Correa
Professor at the UGR Department of Business Organization
Professor specializing in business management and sustainability, focusing on the integration of environmental strategy within organizations across various sectors. His research analyzes how environmental policies influence competitiveness, innovation, and corporate performance.
Ha liderado proyectos y contratos de transferencia con empresas y administraciones públicas, aportando conocimiento para diseñar estrategias de gestión sostenible y gobernanza ambiental. Su perfil conecta la dimensión ecológica con la toma de decisiones en el ámbito organizativo y económico.
José Antonio Hódar Correa
Professor of Ecology at UGR
Professor of Ecology specializing in the biology and population dynamics of forest defoliating insects, such as the pine processionary moth. His research analyzes the interaction between pests, host trees, and natural enemies, as well as the ecological factors regulating their populations in Mediterranean forest systems.
Trabaja en cómo la gestión forestal, especialmente la diversificación de masas, puede reducir la incidencia de plagas y aumentar la resiliencia de los bosques. Su experiencia es aplicable a la planificación y adaptación de estrategias de manejo forestal frente a perturbaciones y cambio global.
Carmen Pérez-Martínez
Professor of Ecology at UGR
Professor of Ecology specializing in the study of lagoons and mountain aquatic systems, particularly in Sierra Nevada. She analyzes the ecological functioning of lentic ecosystems, microbial interactions, and changes in trophic status and physico-chemical conditions.
Desarrolla estudios paleolimnológicos que permiten reconstruir la evolución ambiental de las lagunas durante el Antropoceno, evaluando la influencia del cambio climático y de las deposiciones saharianas. Su trabajo aporta bases científicas para la conservación y gestión de ecosistemas acuáticos de alta montaña.
Juan Lorite
Professor of Botany at UGR
Professor of Botany and specialist in the conservation and restoration of plant species and communities, with a focus on Mediterranean and high-mountain ecosystems. He coordinates long-term monitoring of alpine habitats in Sierra Nevada within international global change monitoring initiatives.
Su investigación se centra en restauración ecológica y biología de la conservación, aplicando el conocimiento científico a la gestión de hábitats vulnerables y a la adaptación de la biodiversidad vegetal frente al cambio climático.
Penélope Serrano Ortiz
Associate Professor at the UGR Department of Ecology
Associate Professor specializing in the ecological functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and agrosystems, with a focus on carbon balance and greenhouse gas exchanges. She analyzes how management and environmental conditions influence the capacity of ecosystems to act as carbon sinks or sources.
Utiliza técnicas avanzadas de monitorización continua para cuantificar flujos de CO₂, metano y óxido nitroso, aportando información clave para diseñar estrategias de manejo forestal y agrícola orientadas a la mitigación del cambio climático.
Paloma Cariñanos
Associate Professor of Botany at UGR
Specialist in aerobiology and atmospheric pollen monitoring as a tool to assess the status and dynamics of plant communities. Her work enables the analysis of ecosystem responses to climate change, the monitoring of endangered and invasive species, and the transport of biological material at various scales.
Además, aporta información relevante para la calidad biológica del aire y la salud pública, facilitando la gestión ambiental y la evaluación del riesgo alergénico asociado a la variabilidad atmosférica.
Javier Martínez López
Profesor permanente laboral del Departamento de Ecología UGR
Researcher specializing in assessing global change impacts and conservation effectiveness in protected areas through remote sensing and the modeling of ecosystem services and socio-ecological systems.
Ha desarrollado indicadores y herramientas para instituciones nacionales e internacionales, aplicando análisis espacial y modelización para apoyar la planificación, el seguimiento y la toma de decisiones en gestión de espacios protegidos.
Gloria Titos Vela
Associate Professor at the UGR Department of Applied Physics
Specialist in the study of atmospheric aerosols and their influence on air quality and climate. She leads in-situ measurement infrastructures in urban and high-mountain environments, integrated into European observation networks.
Su investigación analiza el papel de aerosoles naturales y antropogénicos en la formación de nubes y en los procesos atmosféricos, proporcionando información clave para la evaluación de impactos climáticos y la gestión de la calidad del aire.
Francisca Ruano Díaz
Professor of Zoology at UGR
Francisca Ruano Díaz. Professor of Zoology at the University of Granada. Entomologist and evolutionary biologist convinced of the knowledge transfer between these scientific disciplines, linking agriculture and nature conservation. Her work combines the conservation of natural ecosystems and their biodiversity (monitoring and status assessment of endemic arthropod species in Sierra Nevada) with agricultural productivity and profitability (the effect of semi-natural habitats on natural enemies and olive grove pests), promoting nature-based solutions, especially in the field of conservation biological control.
Es coordinadora del Grupo de investigación de la Junta de Andalucía AGR-285 Ecología aplicada y agroecosistemas, en el que colaboran 5 centros y seis investigadores
Antonio Jesús Perez Luque
Forest Ecology Researcher
Researcher in forest ecology and ecoinformatics, specializing in the analysis and management of information to assess the effects of global change on forest ecosystems. He develops data infrastructures and management support tools, such as DiverPine, aimed at facilitating the interpretation of complex information for land managers.
Su trabajo se centra en el estudio del decaimiento forestal y otras perturbaciones como sequías e incendios, integrando teledetección satelital y con drones, dendrocronología y análisis de datos ecológicos. Contribuye al desarrollo de estrategias de gestión forestal adaptativa basadas en evidencia científica.
Adela González
Associate Professor at UGR
Associate Professor specializing in ecological interactions between plants and insects and their influence on ecosystem functioning. Her research analyzes multitrophic dynamics and the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptation to climate change.
Su trabajo permite comprender cómo el estrés biótico y ambiental afecta a la resiliencia de especies y comunidades, aportando conocimiento útil para la gestión de la biodiversidad y la conservación en escenarios de cambio global.
José María Martín Civantos
Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology
Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology. Coordinator of MEMOLab, the Biocultural Archaeology laboratory. His research focuses on the historical relationship between humans and the environment and the creation of socio-ecosystems that form the basis of our cultural landscapes. The study of local ecological knowledge, traditional practices, communal governance, and co-evolutionary processes is key to understanding how past societies settled and transformed the territory, as well as understanding the productive foundations and social relations. This study is also fundamental in the current context of Global Change and environmental crisis, as we can and must learn from these historical relationships and the balance, values, and ecosystem services these spaces and management forms produce. In this sense, historical water management and irrigation systems are particularly important, including work with irrigation communities for the restoration and maintenance of acequias (irrigation channels), their governing institutions, and the practices that sustain them.
Juan Antonio Bravo‑Aranda
Associate Professor and Director of IISTA
Associate Professor and Director of IISTA (University of Granada). Specialist in the observation and characterization of clouds and precipitation using active remote sensing (lidar, cloud and rain radar) and the operational use of these observations for extreme event assessment and model validation. Experience in coordinating observational infrastructures, developing algorithms for determining particulate matter and hydrometeor properties, data quality control, and the generation of hydrometeorological risk indicators.
Participa en proyectos nacionales e internacionales orientados a la observación e investigación atmosférica, despliegue instrumental y análisis de episodios de precipitación intensa, así como en actividades de formación académica y técnica, transferencia de conocimiento y elaboración de informes especializados dirigidos a administraciones y personal técnico.
Beatriz Pérez Cazorla
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Granada, specializing in the analysis of ecosystem functioning, its conservation, and its response to global change. She employs remote sensing to characterize the status, dynamics, and changes in ecosystem functioning across different spatial scales.
Su trabajo se centra en el desarrollo de indicadores y sistemas de seguimiento aplicables a la gestión de la biodiversidad y a la priorización de actuaciones ambientales. Esta aproximación permite disponer de información objetiva, comparable en el tiempo y territorialmente explícita, especialmente útil para la elaboración de informes y reportes derivados de la normativa ambiental vigente.
Support Team
Eulogio Corral Arredondo
Technician at the UGR Department of Ecology
I am a technician at the Department of Ecology of the University of Granada. I collaborate on research projects focused on the study of glacial lagoons in Sierra Nevada and contribute to the development of the ‘Lagunas de Sierra Nevada’ citizen science campaign. My work includes various outreach initiatives that connect scientific research with the public to promote the conservation of this unique mountain range.
EN 
ES