Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Founded in 2008, IDAEA is a multidisciplinary research institute and CSIC's reference center for environmental science (Water & Air research). Its main mission is to provide high-quality research in environmental sciences, analytical chemistry, geochemistry, hydrology, and biotechnology. CSIC is Spain's largest public research institution, ranking third among Europe’s largest research organizations
Role in the project
People involved
IDAEA-CSIC will primarily focus on conducting field and lab work for the case studies. This entails two key functions: i) performing fieldwork, which involves sample collection and data gathering, and ii) conducting chemical analyses.
Regarding fieldwork, we will conduct both bibliographic and in-situ research to understand and characterize the trophic networks in the study areas, a key step to understand the impact of pesticides on the global ecosystem. We'll collect biological and abiotic samples to study pesticide fate in the environment, as well as the exposure and effects on various key organisms. Additionally, we'll gather essential data to record and assess vital life history traits of these target organisms.
In terms of chemical analysis, we will utilize High Resolution Mass Spectrometry techniques (HRMS) to analyze the collected samples for both pesticides and their transformation products, as well as biological molecules (metabolites) that may be impacted by these contaminants' effects.
Ana López Antia
She is an ecotoxicologist who performs multidisciplinary research, integrating field studies and detailed experimental setups to study the effects of man-made chemicals on organisms across multiple levels of biological organization. Ana uses wild birds as model organisms to understand the impact of environmental pollutants on the ecosystem. Ana's work is pivotal in advancing contemporary environmental risk assessment procedures.
Nicola Montemurro
Nicola is a biologist and expert in the wastewater treatments for reuse in agriculture. He currently works as Ramón y Cajal fellow researcher at IDAEA-CSIC. His main scientific interests are directed towards evaluating the fate of emerging contaminants and their metabolites/transformation products in the soil-crop system and in the environment with the aim of evaluating the risk for human health and ecosystems.
Silvia Lacorte
Full Professor at the IDAEA-CSIC, she leads an interdisciplinary research group in the field of analytical and environmental sciences. Her main research interest is to evaluate the presence and impact of organic contaminants (including microplastics) in the environment and find solutions to mitigate the overwhelming problem of chemical pollution. Special effort is given to the protection of wildlife and natural resources.
Sandra Pérez Solsona
She is is a permanent staff researcher at the IDAEA-CSIC. Group leader of the research group “environmental analysis, fate and effects of emerging pollutants”. Her work is mainly focused on the development of analytical methods for the study of occurrence, distribution, and metabolism/degradation of emerging organic pollutants in the aquatic and terrestrial environment including biota.
Berta Pérez
She is an environmentalist with a MSc in Environmental Toxicology. She is currently performing her PhD within the case study 2 of SYBERAC, investigating the exposure and impacts of pesticides to bat populations in rice field ecosystems.