Maria Del Pilar Cabezas Rodríguez

Biography

"I got my PhD degree at the University of Seville, Spain, in January 2014. My thesis primarily focused on the use of molecular tools to help to solve taxonomic problems (morphological intraspecific variation, cryptic species, etc.) in caprellids, small marine crustacean amphipods, from an important biogeographical transition area, the Strait of Gibraltar. Based on molecular markers, I also studied the population structure, dispersal capability and population connectivity in several caprellid species, as well as the likely origin and possible introduction pathways of those species introduced and/or invasive in the Iberian Peninsula. Later, I was working as a researcher technician at CIBIO-InBIO, as a member of the research project “ALBORAN – A reassessment of the diversity patterns in the transition zone between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic”, financed by FCT (Ref. PTDC/MAR/118205/2010). Within this project my main research was the study of the intricate genetic and biogeographic affinities within the Mediterranean-Atlantic transition zone by means of a multi-species phylogeographic approach, with a special focus on organisms with low dispersal capabilities. In April 2016, I was awarded a post-doctoral grant to work under the project “MarInfo – Integrated platform for marine data acquisition and analysis”, supported by the Northern Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020), through the ERDF Funds. The research plan mainly consists in using DNA tools, especially Next Generation Sequencing, to assess the biodiversity patterns of the Mediterranean and East-Atlantic marine ecosystems. "

Research Interest

"Intricate genetic and biogeographic affinities within the Mediterranean-Atlantic transition zone by means of a multi-species phylogeographic approach, with a special focus on organisms with low dispersal capabilities. "