Dr. Manuel Maldonado

SPONGE ECOBIOLOGY and BIOTEhCNOLOGY GROUP
CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS AVANZADOS DE BLANES (CEAB)
SPANISH COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (CSIC)
accÉs a la Cala St. Francesc 14, Blanes, Girona, SPAIN.

Academic Positions

Dr. Maldonado leads the Sponge Ecobiology and Biotechnology Group at the Department of Marine Ecology in the CEAB. He received his degree in Biology from Complutense University of Madrid in 1986. He conducted post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Biology in Madrid and the Center for Advanced Studies in Girona, before receiving his PhD in Zoology from the University of Barcelona in 1993. He worked as a Fulbright post-doc fellow at the Department of Larval Ecology of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (Florida, USA), before joining the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in 1996.

Main Research Interests

The Sponge Ecobiology and Biotechnology Group is actively researching on various aspects of sponge biology and general marine ecology. The studies are often placed under evolutionary perspectives and in a background of potential future biotechnological applications:

1. The role of sponges in the marine silicon cycle, with emphasis on silica production and turnover.

2. Sponge reproduction, larval biology and recruitment ecology.

3. Mutualisms and symbiosis processes

4. General sponge cytology and physiology

5. Sponge taxonomy and phylogenetics

6. General marine biology and ecology (see downloable publications and reports)