Marina López Villalobos

Marina López Villalobos

Marina is a Project Management Assistant at LifeWatch ERIC. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Maastricht University and a Master’s degree in International Cooperation: Project Management and Leadership.
Originally from Spain, she spent six years in the Netherlands, where she gained international experience in project coordination, public diplomacy, and European affairs. She previously worked at the Embassy of Mexico in the Netherlands as an International Cooperation and Culture Officer, supporting public diplomacy and international cooperation initiatives.
She contributes to project management activities, supporting coordination and implementation tasks.

Wouter Plouvier

Wouter Plouvier

Wouter is a Scientific Data Specialist at LifeWatch ERIC’s ICT-Core, with a background in biology and experience in biodiversity conservation, agroecology, and sustainable land management across European and international contexts. He has worked with research institutes, international organisations, and government bodies, including IUCN, CGIAR, and ETC-UMA, and has collaborated closely with the European Environment Agency (EEA). He has contributed to projects funded under Horizon Europe, LIFE, and Interreg programmes.

His work focuses on the use of environmental and geospatial data to support evidence-based approaches to biodiversity and sustainability challenges. He has contributed to international initiatives through spatial data visualisation and the development of interactive communication products such as dashboards, StoryMaps, and other digital tools that improve the accessibility and usability of scientific information. His work is grounded in FAIR and open science principles, with an emphasis on making environmental data more usable for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

He supports interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement in projects. By combining environmental data analysis with science communication, he contributes to bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and practical decision-making in environmental governance.

Sofía Sánchez Seda

Sofía Sánchez Seda

Sofía Sánchez holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Seville and a Master’s Degree in Social Media Marketing, specialised in Market Research, from the University of Lleida. With more than 10 years of experience, she has developed her career in the promotion of innovation and research-driven initiatives within international environments. She has led the communication strategy of the Agrotecnio research centre, a centre of excellence based in Catalonia, and has also managed dissemination activities for European and national projects in plant biotechnology, circular economy and energy. As an active member of the Spanish Association for Science Communication (AECC), she has delivered training sessions for researchers focused on increasing the visibility and reach of their work.

At LifeWatch ERIC, she serves as Communication and Internationalisation Project Manager of the RECUP-DAS project, coordinating and implementing its communication, dissemination, internationalisation, and exploitation activities to maximise the visibility and impact of its results.

Main Publications

  • Solé-Llussà, A., Saba-Mayoral, A., Sánchez, S., Capell, T., & Ibáñez, M. (2024). SARS-CoV-2 spike protein produced by transgenic rice: research laboratory experience with secondary science students. Journal of Biological Education, 58(5), 1628–1640. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2023.2252843

Jorge Osman

Jorge Osman

Jorge is a microbiologist with a background in environmental biology and specialisation in ecosystem biodiversity. He holds two Master’s degrees, in Microbiology (Universidad Austral de Chile, 2012) and Environmental Management (CEU, Spain, 2024), as well as a PhD in Life Sciences focused on biodiversity in extreme ecosystems (Université Paris-Saclay, 2016).

His professional experience has been developed across Latin America and Europe in roles spanning research, teaching, and scientific project management. Jorge has experience in the coordination of scientific and R&D&I projects with environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspectives. He has strong expertise in technical and scientific writing, proposal development, and securing competitive funding through national and international calls. He has contributed to projects addressing climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and soil health.

His fieldwork experience in environments such as Iceland, the Atacama Desert and the French Camargue has provided direct insight into environmental change and ecosystem dynamics. He has participated in more than 15 national and international scientific conferences (Europe, the United States and Latin America), contributed to 7 international interdisciplinary projects, and authored more than 15 peer-reviewed publications as first author in microbiology and environmental biology journals.

Jorge also has experience in data analysis and higher education teaching. His core competencies include scientific and technical writing, competitive funding applications and management, microbiological and chemical analyses, project formulation and coordination, multilingual communication, and the management of projects across scientific, technical and business-oriented environments.

Main Publications

  • Osman, JR. et al., Key energy metabolisms in modern living microbialites from hypersaline Andean lagoons of the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173469
  • Ana Z. Miller, Sara Gutierrez-Patricio, Fernando Gázquez, Alba Gomez-Arias, Javier Martínez-Martínez, Pedro Nolasco-Jiménez, Jorge R. Osman et al., Stochastic seeding and environmental stressors as dual drivers of pioneer microbial colonization in newly formed basaltic lava tubes. Link: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-026-00874-y
  • Osman et al., Microbial-Mediated Iron Sulfide Mineralization in Aragonite Spherules from the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2025.2516470

Andrea Ros Candeira

Andrea Ros Candeira

Andrea is a Data Management Specialist at LifeWatch ERIC’s ICT-Core, with over 8 years of experience managing high-value environmental datasets in institutional and research projects. She previously worked at the University of Granada, where she managed long-term ecological data and collaborated closely with researchers, managers, and technicians at the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory and multiple research projects. Her main tasks involve designing and implementing Data Management Plans following European guidelines and FAIR principles, designing data services from a fitness-for-use perspective, harmonising data from different sources, storing (meta)data in open-source solutions, providing technical consultancy on data management, and collaborating with professionals from different backgrounds. She has also collaborated with international networks such as GBIF and eLTER.

José Luis Fernández Rueda

José Luis Fernández Rueda

José Luis Fernández Rueda is a Computer Engineer with a Master’s degree in Intelligent Systems and two decades of experience specialising in the implementation of algorithms for the processing of large-scale datasets. He began his career working in Digital Image Processing and Geographic Information Systems, before transitioning into Biomedical Research, where he has taken on a hybrid role as both a data scientist and a developer, working on low-level applications and distributed systems for the processing of large-scale omics data.

As a member of the development team at LifeWatch ERIC, he contributes to the development of the organisation’s software infrastructure.

Main publications:

Méndez-Vidal, C., Bravo-Gil, N., Pérez-Florido, J., Marcos-Luque, I., Fernández, R. M., Fernández-Rueda, J. L., … & Antiñolo, G. (2025). A genomic strategy for precision medicine in rare diseases: integrating customized algorithms into clinical practice. Journal of Translational Medicine, 23(1), 86.

Peña-Chilet, M., Roldán, G., Perez-Florido, J., Ortuno, F. M., Carmona, R., Aquino, V., … & Dopazo, J. (2021). CSVS, a crowdsourcing database of the Spanish population genetic variability. Nucleic acids research, 49(D1), D1130-D1137.

López-Sánchez, L. M., Jurado-Gámez, B., Feu-Collado, N., Valverde, A., Cañas, A., Fernández-Rueda, J. L., … & Rodríguez-Ariza, A. (2017). Exhaled breath condensate biomarkers for the early diagnosis of lung cancer using proteomics. American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 313(4), L664-L676.

Salvador J. Fernández Bejarano

Salvador J. Fernández Bejarano

Salvador is a Data Management Specialist at ICT-Core, with a solid background in environmental informatics. He holds an MSc in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and has extensive experience managing and curating research datasets in alignment with FAIR principles. His work has contributed to the FAIR publication of datasets across various disciplines, with a particular focus on geospatial and biodiversity data.

Salvador has developed and maintained research software, including R packages, to streamline data access, enhance reproducibility, and enable integration with semantic web technologies. He has been involved in the design of the European Ocean Digital Twin, helping bridge environmental data systems with real-time simulations to support data-driven decision-making. In addition, he is experienced in the use and promotion of Open Linked Data, contributing to interoperable knowledge systems that connect datasets across domains and institutions.

Since joining LifeWatch ERIC in 2025, he has applied his expertise to the design and execution of data management plans across diverse scientific projects, while also leading capacity-building workshops and supporting the wider adoption of open science practices

Main publications:

Musimwa, R., Standaert, W., Stevens, M., Fernández Bejarano, S. J., Muñiz, C., Debusschere, E., Pint, S., & Everaert, G. (2025). Climate-induced habitat suitability modelling for pelagic fish in European seas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1501751

Webb, T., Beja, J., Fernández Bejarano, S. J., Ramos, E., Sainz-Villegas, S., Soetaert, K., Stolte, W., Troupin, C., & Weigel, B. (2025). Realising the potential of interoperable data products to improve the outlook for marine biodiversity: Lessons from the European marine observation and data network. Marine Policy, 173, 106578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106578

Assis, J., Fernández Bejarano, S.J., Salazar, V.W., Schepers, L., Gouvêa, L., Fragkopoulou, E., Leclercq, L., Vanhoorne, B.,Tyberghein, L., Serrão, E.A., Verbruggen, H., De Clerck, O. (2024) Bio-ORACLE v3.0. Pushing marine data layers to the CMIP6 Earth system models of climate change research. Global Ecology and Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13813

José Antonio Zaíño Rodríguez

José Antonio Zaíño Rodríguez

Full Stack Engineer at LifeWatch ERIC.

He holds a degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering and a master’s degree in Telematics and Telecommunication Networks. He specialises in full stack software development, working on both frontend and backend technologies. Since 2020, he has been working in the private sector, focusing on building and optimising software solutions. Currently, he is developing the LifeWatch Search Engine, available at search.lifewatch.eu.

Iria Soto Embodas

Iria Soto Embodas

Senior Scientific Manager

She is a Senior Scientific Manager at ICT-Core, where she coordinates and manages LifeWatch ERIC activities across various Horizon Europe projects. With a transdisciplinary background, her work focuses on sustainable food production, agroecology, sustainable soil management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. She is particularly involved in the SUSSOIL, StePPFoS, GreenCop, Agroecology, and Path2Dea projects within LifeWatch ERIC.

Iria holds a PhD in Bioeconomy from the University of Leuven (Belgium), a Master’s in Biology from the University of Uppsala (Sweden), a Master’s in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from the Complutense University of Madrid, and an MSc in Forest Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain).

From 2015 to 2021, Iria worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Seville, within the Sustainable Resources Unit. There, she evaluated the environmental and socio-economic impacts of various climate change adaptation and mitigation programs and practices. She also assessed the sustainability of biofuel production in Mali and Mexico while at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Leuven. Additionally, Iria has managed international projects in countries such as Mexico, Lebanon, Morocco, Mali, and India, while working at the International Affairs Directorate of the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia. In this role, she collaborated with organizations like the FAO and the World Bank. She is the author of over 20 publications and has participated in many seminars, conferences and workshop.

Main publications

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X24003117

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901118305471?via%3Dihub

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421514007034?via%3Dihub

Javier Saura Rascón

Javier Saura Rascón

Project Executive Assistant

Master’s in Project Management, Master’s in Innovation, and a Bachelor’s in Labor Relations and Human Resources. Specialist in project management, innovation, and industrialization. He has led strategic R&D&I and industrialization plans in the aerospace and automotive sectors. His expertise includes securing funding, engaging with stakeholders, transferring research results, and managing intellectual and industrial property.

He has worked in the public sector, coordinating European programs such as Next Generation, URBAN, INTERREG, ESF, and ERDF, focusing on local development and employment. His achievements include leading industrialization projects in aerospace and automotive, formulating technological roadmaps, and participating in international cooperation projects in Guatemala and Guinea-Bissau.

Currently, he leads the preparation of ERDF project proposals for biodiversity impact monitoring in environmental restoration projects and the development of digital twins for protected areas. His profile blends strategic leadership, financial management, and an innovative approach to emerging technologies, with a strong results-oriented mindset.

See Publications