About
Laura Figuerola Ferrando is a marine ecologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC, Barcelona). She is interested in understanding the processes that shape the distribution of marine benthic species and communities across spatial scales, from shallow coastal ecosystems to deep-sea habitats. Her research explores how these distribution patterns emerge and how they may change over time under environmental change. She combines ecological monitoring, underwater imaging technologies, field surveys, and spatial modelling to investigate the relative importance of abiotic drivers and biotic interactions in shaping biodiversity patterns.
She is particularly interested in habitat-forming species and the vulnerability of marine biodiversity to environmental change. By integrating approaches from spatial ecology, biogeography, and macroecology, her work aims to improve predictions of species redistribution and ecosystem change, supporting conservation and management in a rapidly changing ocean.
Joined
October 2026
