Oriol Lapiedra
Behaviour & Evolution
Our team
Oriol Lapiedra
Principal investigator – Google Scholar
I am a Senior Group Leader at CREAF. My primary goal as a researcher is to shed light on how organisms adapt to environmental changes with a specific focus on the role of animal behavior in this process. My research combines approaches from behavioral ecology, evolutionary ecology, and global change biology. Throughout my scientific career, I have applied these skills to study two main lines of research. A) unraveling the role of animal behavior in evolution and B) investigating how organisms successfully cope with human-induced rapid environmental changes.
Meet the team
Iwona Giska
Iwona is interested in the genetic bases and the diversity of evolutionary paths leading to adaptations. She uses genomic approaches to study the process of animal adaptation to challenging environmental conditions. Her postdoctoral project aims at identifying the genetic basis of variation in risk-taking behavior and morphological traits in Anolis lizards.
Adrián Talavera
Adrián is interested in using genomics to explore diverse evolutionary questions. He has studied reptiles and amphibians, focusing on conservation, systematics, introgression, and venom gene evolution. His postdoctoral project investigates the genomic basis of behavior in lizards facing strong selection from snake invasions.
Gilles de Meester
Gilles is a cognitive ecologist, interested in how ecological challenges drive the evolution of animal cognition. During his postdoctoral project, he will study cognitive evolution in the Ibiza system, and test how both lizard and snake cognition change throughout the invasion process. He is also interested in understanding the neural basis of animal cognition.
Guillem Casbas
Guillem is a professional herpetologist studying how environmental changes, like invasions and urbanization, affect native reptiles’ ecology and evolution. After earning a Biology degree, he worked on ecology projects in Australia and Czech Republic.
Marc Vez
Marc is interested in animal behavior and the eco-evolutionary changes that may result from it. During his career he has studied the effects of environmental changes on urban fauna. He is currently working on the study of the role of urban areas as a refuge for biodiversity.
Natàlia Martínez
Natalia research examines the evolutionary history and ecology of organisms, focusing on their responses to environmental change. I study extinction patterns, compare species’ vulnerabilities, and identify traits linked to global change.
Cristina Amor
Cristina is a biologist with a background in bioinformatics and genomics, which she applies to study the evolutionary impacts of invasive species on Ibiza. Previously, she studied ancient DNA through genomic and metagenomic analyses of human remains and explored adaptation and selection in diverse organisms.
Ariadna Sanglas
Ariadna is specialized in carnivore study and conservation, using methods like camera trapping, GPS tracking, and citizen science. Her research explores interspecific dominance among mesocarnivores. As a field assistant, she supports data collection and behavioral experiments in Ibiza.
Past Lab Members
Breanna Emerson
Research assistant researching environmental impact on threatened indigenous reptile species as a result of the introduction of an invasive species. Specific focus on predator/ prey relationships and cascade effects caused by the influence of an introduced species.
Timos Armodoros
Internship trainee for a period of four months concerning the consequences of biological invasions in the Mediterranean and more specifically, the case study of the Ibiza wall – lizard (Podarcis pityusensis), endemic in the Balearic Islands.
Marc Llorca
Former MsC Student
Marc project focused in designing new behavioral assays and applying them to assess the behavioral responses of Ibiza wall lizards to snake invaders. He also acquired valuable experience in monitoring communities of arthropods throughout the island.
Eloi Pareja
Eloi studied the phenotypic responses of wild ranging populations of Anolis lizards to new selective regimes. Specifically, he analyzed a large dataset of X-ray images to show how their morphology is adapting to rapid environmental changes.
Aina Garcia
Aina is an ecologist studying the causes and consequences of biodiversity variation. My research explores how environmental changes shape animal communities, focusing on how behavior and life-history influence birds’ phenology and evolutionary potential.
Eva Samblás
Eva’s project is focused on investigating how the snake invasion in Ibiza is shaping trophic networks across different habitats, both natural and altered. She is also interested in urban ecology.
Daniela Moreno
Former MsC Student
Daniela investigated behavioral shifts of wild Anolis populations across four lizard generations. She analyzed video data obtained in our field experiment in the Bahamas.
Sandra Moreno
Former MsC Student
Sandra joined us with a CREAF summer fellowship. She is interested in urban ecology and is currently working on a project assessing the importance of urban areas as actual refugia for woldlife conservation.