Sara Villén Pérez

I doctored in Ecology in December 2013 by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, developing my research at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) under the supervision of Dr. Luis M. Carrascal and Dr. Javier Seoane. I studied the ecology and distribution of birds at multiple scales, focusing on forest species wintering in peninsular Spain. I was interested in understanding how the functional mechanisms working at organism level end up defining landscape and macroecological patterns in relation with the habitat and thermal preferences of species. My doctorate was a very successful work experience, in which I developed and published six original research works in scientific journals such as Plos One, Ecological Research or Community Ecology, obtaining a PhD awarded with international mention and academic distinction Cum Laude. In 2014 I collaborated with Dra. Raisa Mäkipää at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Finland) as an invited postdoc researcher. We modeled abundance of Finnish understory plant species in relation to both climatic and environmental factors using nation-wide vegetation data. We used those models to forecast shifts in species abundances and ranges under future climate change scenarios, and to identify potential indicator species that could be used for monitoring climate change effects. In March 2015 I joint the Ecology Department at the Universidade Federal de Goias (Brasil) as a post-doc researcher under the supervision of Dr. Paulo De Marco Jr. I co-coordinated the projects ?Assessing vulnerability of Brazilian endangered species to present and future economic growth: elaboration of a theoretical framework?, and "Construindo um future para a conservação das espécies ameaçadas brasileiras: análise de vulnerabilidade a atividades economicas existentes e planejadas", in which we analyze the vulnerability of Brazilian endangered species in relation to human activities established or planned for a near future at a national scale. Here I lectured at the Post-graduation Program in Animal Diversity, at graduate Programs in Ecology and Environmental Analysis and in Biological Sciences, and supervise undergraduate and master-level students. In April 2018 I started a new position at Universidad de Alcalá (Spain), granted with a 4-years contract from the Talent Atraction Fellowship from the Comunidad de Madrid. Currently I lecture at PhD Program in Ecosistem Restoration and at the graduate Program in Biology at this University. Moreover, I granted a research project funded by the Universidad de Alcalá to study the impact of mining activities in the Amazon and their impact on threatened species. Afterwards I granted a new research project funded by Fundación Biodiversidad and another research project funded by Comunidad de Madrid to study the biogeographical patterns of species abundance and forecast potential shifts under future climate change scenarios. I am leading these two projects since 2020, which countwith the collaboration of 13 researchers from 6 institutions from Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Finland. Moreover, I maintain a very active scientific relationship with various coleagues from the Universidade Federal de Goiás and I am accredited as Colaborator Prrofessor at the Master Program in Animal Biodiversity, where I lecture and orientate students.