Dr Ricardo Cruz de Carvalho
Member since: 09/07/2017 - 10:20Short Bio
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I have a PhD in Biology (Physiology and Biochemistry) from the University of Lisbon, currently as a post-doctoral researcher in Ecotoxicology at the BIOTOX Lab led by Bernardo Duarte (MARE - FCUL). I also collaborate with the Ecology of Environmental Change research group, led by Cristina Branquinho (cE3c - FCUL). I was the PI of the project MedMossRoofs (FCT financed, 2016-2019), which aimed to study the application of moss-dominated biological soil crusts in green roofs with no requirements to irrigation, measuring their services in urban centres. For many years I have been involved in plant stress research, focusing on drought/desiccation stress in maize and bryophytes. I currently collaborate with several overlapping groups of colleagues principally working on a range of topics in (i) desiccation tolerance with Lloyd Stark’s research group (University of Las Vegas, USA); (ii) biological soil crusts with Stephan Peth’s research group (University of Kassel, Germany) and Roberto De Philippis’ research group (University of Florence); and (iii) green roofs with Instituto Superior de Agronomia (University of Lisbon) and Benz Kotzen (University of Greenwich). My current research is driven by three overarching objectives: i) identify ecophysiological processes and patterns in abiotic stress affecting photosynthetic organisms (e.g. halophytes, bryophytes, lichens, diatoms); ii) study the use of biological soil crusts in ecological restoration under the current climate change; iii) research green roof sustainability and ecological services using biological soil crusts.