I am an environmental scientist and PhD student working on biogeography and paleoecology. My research focuses on understanding how past climate changes have shaped the evolution and distribution of hominins, particularly Homo erectus, over the last three million years. To address this, I combine paleoclimate models, fossil occurrence data, and mechanistic ecological simulations to explore how climatic variability influenced hominin adaptation, dispersal, and speciation. By integrating approaches from climate science, ecology, and evolution, my work aims to shed light on the complex interactions between environmental change and human evolution.

PROJECTS
Current projects

Name of the project: “Paleo en el Barrio: Ciencia de proximidad”. 3rd edition.
Proyecto FECYT FCT-23-19134.
Type of project: Competitive.
Entity where project took place: MNNC-CSIC and UVigo.
Funding entity: FECYT.
Co-PI: A. Oliver, R. de Iriarte and T. Gallego.
Type of participation: team member
Start-End date: 01/10/2024 – 30/09/2025.
Total amount: 96,450 €.

Name of the project: Cuantificando la pérdida de información del registro fósil (LOST).
PID2021-123202NA-I00.
Type of project: Competitive.
Entity where the project took place: UVigo.
Funding entity: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades.
PI: S. Varela.
Type of participation: Predoc researcher.
Start-End date: 01/09/2022 – 31/08/2025.
Total amount: 45,000 €

Name of the project: Mapping cradles and graves. H2020-ERC-2020-STG-947921.
Type of project: Competitive.
Entity where the project took place: Mapas Lab, UVigo.
Funding entity: H2020-ERC-2020.
PI: S. Varela.
Type of participation: Predoc researcher.
Start-End date: 01/06/2020- 30/11/2025.
Total amount: 1.499.924 €.