LEOPOLDO GARCÍA SANCHO

FULL PROFESSOR

About me…
I am a plant ecophysiologist focused mainly in cryptogams´‘ adaptation mechanisms to extreme environments, such as polar, alpine and deserts.

PhD in Biology from the Complutense University of Madrid, currently Full Professor of Botany at this University. He carried out postdoctoral studies for several years at the Institute of Polar Ecology in Kiel (Germany). He has participated in 17 expeditions to Antarctica in coordination with Spain, Chile, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States. He was the head of the first experiment with lichens in outer space (2005), selected and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). He is the Spanish representative in the Life Sciences group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Prince of Asturias Award in 2002. He is member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy and fellow of the Linnean Society of London.

Research lines
– Ecophysiology of lichens and mosses under natural conditions in extreme environments
– Photosynthesis performance of lichens from extreme environments
– Lichen survival in outer space and in Mars simulated environments (Astrobiology)
– Main drivers of lichen and bryophyte diversity in Antarctica
– Lichen growth in high mountains and polar regions in relation to environmental gradients and climate change (Lichenometry)

Former positions and Education