Lucas Gimenez

Affiliation:

NF-POGO Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography
30 Aug 2022 to 29 Sep 2022

Research subject:

Marine ecology

Supervisor:

Dr Eva-Maria Brodte

Short cv:

Broadly, I am interested in how natural and anthropogenic factors drive (or impair) ecological processes in marine environments, at different temporal and spatial scales. I started my journey in science with a Marine Biology degree at Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina. During my undergraduate research project, I focused on a clam species (Glycymeris longior) in a local system inside San Matias Gulf (Northern Patagonia). I used the internal growth increments (or rings) to explore population patterns of this species at the southern edge of its distribution. I also linked multi-decadal growth anomalies with environmental time series to assess the potential of this species as an environmental archive. After this experience, I wanted to expand the scope of my research and explore other systems. I earned an MSc degree by research in Marine Ecology at Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Chile. I studied the invasion ecology of sea anemone species with successful introductions world-wide (Diadumene lineata, Exaiptasia diaphana and Nematostella vectensis). I applied ecological niche modeling to better understand the invasion process of sea anemones and assessed whether non-native populations develop in similar environments as those from the native range (climatic match hypothesis). I also projected potential distributions as an invasion risk assessment to detect likely scenarios for new introductions and spread.