Mercury is a global pollutant that might damage the central nervous system of severely exposed humans. Although all forms of mercury are toxic, the organic form, methylmercury, is of special concern because it accumulates and biomagnifies in aquatic food webs. In order to draw effective management strategies to reduce human exposure to mercury, I am interested in elucidating all possible sources of methylmercury for aquatic ecosystems, including internal processes. In particular, my research focuses on the identification and description of the main biological and chemical factors driving the formation and biomagnification of methylmercury.

I obtained my PhD in Environmental Sciences in Switzerland (Geneva University, 2010), where I revealed the impact of chlor-alkali and sewage treatment plants on mercury pollution. Afterwards, I obtained a project by the Swedish Research Council to move to Sweden and work as a post-doc (Uppsala University, 2012-2014). My postdoc positions in Sweden included 3 additional years at Uppsala University (2014-2016), funded by the international SMaRef Project where I acted as a Work Package leader, and 4 months at Umeå University (2017). During these 5 years I studied the effect of organic matter molecular composition in methylmercury formation and bacterial activity. I also unveiled the composition of mercury methylating microbial communities. An evidence of the relevance of the studies I performed in Sweden is that I am the 2019 Raymond L. Lindeman awardee from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography – ASLO (this award recognises an outstanding publication by a young scientist). In 2017, I obtained a Beatriu de Pinós post-doc grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya to move to the IDAEA-CSIC in Barcelona to study the key organic molecules driving methylmercury formation. I ceased this postdoc when I obtained a highly-competitive Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission, to work on mercury cycling in the ocean at the Institute of Marine Sciences ICM-CSIC (2018-2020).

During all these years, I have used innovative approaches in my research, including isotopic techniques, deep characterization of organic matter, iron and sulfur speciation, and genomics and I have encompassed a wide range of environments, from soils, boreal mires and oligotrophic lakes, to eutrophic reservoirs, rivers and, ponds and, more recently, the global ocean to provide mechanistic understanding of the processes controlling mercury cycling.