Introduction
👋 Hi, I'm Santi — a biologist and data scientist passionate about understanding animal evolution using comparative genomics.
🔬 As a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, I study the genetic basis of adaptation in extreme environments, currently focusing on fish.
🐟 In the past, my research has uncovered how honey bees adapt to high-altitude, cavefishes evolve following genome duplication, and Neotropical frogs diverge across elevational gradients, among others. Check out my Publications for more.
🌍 My goal is to predict how species respond to environmental changes, and apply these findings to conservation, agriculture, and fisheries. To learn further, see my Research.
☕️ I'm always open to collaborations, discussions and speaking opportunities. Feel free to get in touch.
Giving a speech at the opening ceremony of the China-EU Young Scientists Exchange Program (Beijing, July 2025).
Examining a three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) specimen at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, March 2023) .
Academia
Postdoctoral Researcher
2021-Present | Fish Evolution and Genomics Group (PI: Baocheng Guo), Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 🇨🇳
Ph.D. Student
2015-2020 | Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group (PI: Carles Vilà), Doñana Biological Station, Spanish National Research Council, Seville 🇪🇸 / Webster Lab, Uppsala University 🇸🇪
M.Sc. in Biodiversity
2013-2014 | University of Barcelona 🇪🇸 / MSc Thesis: Group of Systematics, Biogeography and Evolution of Reptiles and Amphibians (PI: Salvador Carranza), Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona 🇪🇸
B.Sc. in Biology
2009-2013 | University of Girona 🇪🇸 / BSc Thesis: Laska Lab, Linköping University 🇸🇪
Annual meeting of the Fish Evolution and Genomics Group at the Institute of Zoology (Beijing, January 2025).
A bowling day with the Webster Lab (Uppsala, September 2017).
Celebrating the holidays with the Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group (Seville, December 2016).
The Carranza Lab at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Barcelona, November 2013).
Funding
My scientific research is currently possible thanks to the International Scientists Project of the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (BJNSF). Previously, my postdoctoral work was funded by the Foreign Young Talent Program from the China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Research Fund for International Young Scientists (RFIS-I) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and the President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for Visiting Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). My doctoral research was financed by the Spanish Government through several grants. I am very grateful to all these institutions for their support.
