I am a Research Scientist at the ICM-CSIC with a wide experience in marine microbial ecology, with special focus on protist ecology and evolution. I completed my PhD in 1993 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Then, I did a postdoctoral stay at the University of California, Santa Barbara and returned at the ICM, where I consolidated in 2005. My broad research line is the study of the phylogenetic and functional diversity of marine eukaryotic microbes. I am particularly interested in opening the black box of heterotrophic flagellates and exploring the role of these unpigmented protists in marine food webs as bacterial grazers and nutrient remineralizers. It is remarkable how little is known on the dominant members of this assemblage in marine waters, and I focus on a set of uncultured lineages named MAST that are widespread and abundant in surface oceans. I am part of the group “Ecology and Genomics of Marine Microorganisms” that integrates about 40 people at the ICM with the common umbrella of understanding the biodiversity and functioning of marine microbial plankton. This group is responsible for monitoring at the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory, NW Mediterranean Coast, which operates continuously since 2001. My more than 30 years of expertise have resulted in the publication of more than 180 scientific papers (H index of 72), the invitations to international meetings and the lead of several international and Spanish research projects. During 2016-2020 I have been the Coordinator of the EU Innovative Training Network SINGEK conceived to promote the use of Single Cell Genomics to address critical ecological and evolutionary questions in microbial eukaryotes.