Jose G. Maciá-Vicente
Lead scientist
Jose G. Maciá-Vicente is a researcher at the University of Alicante, where he studies the diversity and ecology of root-associated fungi. His work focuses on the interactions between these fungi and plants, aiming to understand how these relationships determine plant diversity, productivity, and other ecosystem processes. Jose holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Alicante and has worked at research centers in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands. He returned to Spain in January 2025 after obtaining a grant from the Beatriz Galindo program.
Juana M. Mirón-Gatón
Research assistant
Juana María Mirón Gatón obtained her PhD in Biodiversity and Environmental Management from the University of Murcia in 2024. Her research focuses on biodiversity, ecology and organism-environment interactions, with particular interest in the responses of organisms to environmental variability. She has worked on the ecology and ecophysiology of aquatic insects and is currently a collaborating researcher in the STIPEND project at the University of Alicante, studying the diversity and ecology of fungal endophyte communities associated with Mediterranean esparto grasslands. Her work contributes to a better understanding of biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning in Mediterranean environments.
Eva Arribas Flores
BSc student
Eva Arribas Flores is an undergraduate student in Marine Sciences at the University of Alicante. She is currently conducting her BSc thesis, which focuses on assessing the distribution of the root-associated fungus Lophiostoma carabassense along the Alicante coastline. Her project aims to test whether the fungus is endemic to particular littoral habitats in the region and to determine its specificity towards particular littoral plant species.
Erika Bertó García
BSc student
Erika Bertó García is a Marine Sciences student at the University of Alicante. She is currently working on her BSc thesis research on the role of soil fungi in degrading microplastics within littoral habitats. Her work focuses on identifying fungi that naturally colonize plastic wastes to evaluate their biotechnological potential for breaking down recalcitrant materials and supporting habitat restoration.
