F. Martínez-Freiría

I graduated in Biology at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain (1998-2002). I did my MSc (2002-04) and PhD (2004-09) at the University of Salamanca (Spain). From 2010 to 2019, I worked as postdoc researcher in CIBIO (Univ. Porto, Portugal). Currently, I am contracted as a Researcher in the same institution. My PhD was directed to understand the biogeographical factors related to the maintenance of a triple contact zone among the three Iberian vipers (Viperidae) in Northern Spain. For this purpose, I combined different tools sucha as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Species Distribution Models (SDM), Geostatistics, radio-telemetry and population genetics. Currently, I am interested in in the integrative understanding of phenotypic and genetic diversity, and its application to conservation. My research interests are directed to identify biogeographical patterns, explain determinant factors, and infer ecological and evolutionary processes, to incorporate resulting information in conservation assessments for biodiversity. I frequently use ectotherms, particularly vipers as model organisms, relying on a strong fieldwork component, the compilation of data from scientific collections and the application of spatially-based approaches to integrate ecological, climatic and genetic information at different geographic scales. My research uses a multidisciplinary toolbox that includes phylogenetics, phylogeography and population genetics to quantify genetic diversity and characterize evolutionary dynamics; GIS-based tools and multivariate statistics to quantify phenotypic variation, identify its geographic patterns and establish links among phenotypic, genetic and environmental variability; and SDM to identify the environmental requirements of species, lineages and populations, as well as to infer suitable areas for their occurrence across time.