Ricardo da Cruz de Carvalho

Ricardo da Cruz de Carvalho
Faculty of Science
University of Lisbon
Portugal

Ricardo had graduated in 2003 in Applied Plant Biology in the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Ricardo took a yearlong internship at Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica (ITQB, Oeiras, Portugal) where Ricardo studied the impact of biotic stress in plant transcripts, to be more precise the effect of the pathogen Pseudomonas savastanoi on Olea europeae (olive tree), using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. Immediately after finishing my degree Ricardo took a Master degree in Plant Stress Biology in the University of Minho, Portugal, where Ricardo was especially interested in drought stress and oxidative stress, and developed my Master’s project in selecting drought tolerant maize cultivars from six Portuguese varieties, through several techniques, including the non-invading chlorophyll a fluorescence and infra-red gas analysis (IRGA), assessing the photosynthesis during the onset of drought and also the recovery period. Ricardo received a Ph.D. in Biology (Physiology and Biochemistry) from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, in 2013, studying the physiological, biochemical and molecular aspects of desiccation tolerance in bryophytes. Ricardo am currently in the Ecology of Environmental Change research group of cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes. Ricardo current research focuses on ecophysiology of bryophytes and ecological restoration using biological soil crusts. Ricardo currently collaborate with several overlapping groups of colleagues mainly 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). His current research is driven by three overarching objectives: i) identify ecophysiological processes and patterns affecting desiccation tolerance across poikilohydric organisms (e.g. bryophytes, lichens); 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.

Ecology,Environmental, Evolution, Biochemistry, Physiology