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Advanced Courses in Life Sciences

Ana Rosa Gómez Cano

“Science is part of the reality of living; it is the what, the how, and the why of everything in our experience.”

Rachel Carson

Ana Rosa Gomez-Cano coordinator at Transmitting Science

I am PhD in Palaeontology with European mention by the University Autónoma of Madrid (UAM) and I hold a degree in Biological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). My doctoral thesis entitled: “Bioclimatic and paleoecological analysis of rodent faunas of the Iberian Upper Middle Miocene” supervised by Dr M. Hernandez Fernandez and Dr M.A. Álvarez-Sierra, was focused on the study of morphological information of rodent teeth to infer ecological features that can be used in paleoenvironmental interpretations of the past. Particularly, my works focused on the rich inheritance of deposits of the Upper Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula and southern France but also in the study of their extant relatives. My academic training has been complemented by various specialised international courses focusing on the main theme of my dissertation: geometric morphometrics and ecomorphology.

After my Thesis dissertation in 08/11/2013, I have improved my international scope working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (France). Since 01/12/2013 I worked 18 months in its Evo-Devo of Vertebrate Dentition research group led by Professor Laurent Viriot. In this regard, my postdoc offered me the opportunity to continue working on the basis of skills acquired in the course of my doctoral thesis and apply them to new taxa, which allows me to expand my range of studio facing new problems and challenges. Also, my attachment to the Institute of Functional Genomics of the Lyon team is allowing me to acquire new knowledge within the management of research and computerised tomography image management techniques and software for image analysis.

I always try to develop my professional career in a multidisciplinary environment during which my career is developed in a multidisciplinary field that has been largely benefited from national collaborations (through projects, publications and conferences) and international collaborations (particularly through pre- and postdoctoral stays at differents institutions and also visiting museum collections: New York, Washington DC, Paris, Lyon, Tervuren and attending international conferences and courses).

Moreover, during this time I have been actively involved in different tasks within the field of science that include, in addition to publications in SCI journals, organizing conferences, scientific reviews, but also involving fieldworks in paleontological excavations, including, among others, participation in sites of international importance as “Atapuerca” (UCM) and “Batallones” (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC ). Additionally, I have worked extensively in teaching assignments covering various disciplines in the field of palaeontology, geology and biology at the Complutense University of Madrid for degree and master students. Last year I obtained the accreditation for the higher education system in France. I am the supervisor of two PhD students at the UCM.

For over ten years, I have acquired through practice, experience in the development of outreach activities and dissemination of scientific content both for a general and specialised public. Particularly focused on women in science. As a science enthusiast, I own a desire to continue learning.

Contact: ar.gomezcano@transmittingscience.com

Educational background

– B.Sc.: Biology, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2007.
– Bachelor thesis: Biology, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2007.
– PhD: Palaeontology, University Autonoma of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2013.

Current position

Course coordinator and communication manager at Transmitting Science

Selected publications

  • Menendez, I., Gómez Cano, A.R., Álvarez-Sierrra, M.A. and Hernández Fernández, M. 2019. Diet and Tooth Morphology of Southeast Asian Squirrels (Callosciurinae, Sciuridae, Rodentia) Journal of Morphology, 280, S178-S179.
  • Blanco, F., Gómez Cano, A.R., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Domingo, M. S., Domingo, L., Menéndez, I., Flynn, J. L., Hernández Fernández, M. 2018. Differential responses of Miocene rodent metacommunities to global climatic changes were mediated by environmental context, Scientific Reports, 8, 1, 2502.
  • Menéndez, I., Gómez Cano, A.R., Yelo, B. G., Domingo, L., Domingo, M. S., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Blanco, F., Hernández Fernández, M. 2018. Correction: Body-size structure of Central Iberian mammal fauna reveals semidesertic conditions during the middle Miocene Global Cooling Event, PloS one, 13, 8, e0202612.
  • Gil Romera, G., Gómez Cano, A.R., González-Sampériz, P. 2018. Primer simposio sobre Paleoecología en el encuentro XIV de MEDECOS y XIII de la AEET, Revista Ecosistemas, 27, 1, 130-131.
  • Domingo, M. S., Martín-Perea, D., Domingo, L., Cantero, E., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Yelo, B. G., Gómez Cano, A.R., Alcalde, Gema M., Fesharaki, O., Hernández Fernández, M. 2017. Taphonomy of mammalian fossil bones from the debris-flow deposits of Somosaguas-North (Middle Miocene, Madrid Basin, Spain), Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 465, 103-121.
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Kimura, Y., Blanco, F., Menendez, I., Álvarez-Sierra, M. A., Hernández Fernández, M., 2017 Ecomorphological characterization of murines and non-arvicoline cricetids (Rodentia) from south-western Europe since the latest Middle Miocene to the Mio-Pliocene boundary (MN 7/8–MN13), PeerJ, 5, e3646.
  • Menéndez, I., Gómez Cano, A.R., Yelo, B. G., Domingo, L., Domingo, M. S., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Blanco, F., Hernández Fernández, M. 2017. Body-size structure of Central Iberian mammal fauna reveals semidesertic conditions during the middle Miocene Global Cooling Event, PloS one, 12, 10, e0186762.
  • Hernández Fernández, M., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Gómez Cano, A.R. 2015. Plio-Pleistocene climatic change had a major impact on the assembly and disassembly processes of Iberian rodent communities, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 1-18
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Álvarez-Sierra, M. A., Hernández Fernández, M. 2014. A macroecological glance at the structure of late Miocene rodent assemblages from Southwest Europe, Scientific Reports, 4
  • Yelo, BA García., Gómez Cano, A.R., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Alcalde, GM., Sanisidro, O., Oliver, A., Hernández-Ballarín, Verónica., López-Guerrero, P., Fraile, SusA., Hernández Fernández, M. 2014. Palaeoenvironmental A.lysis of the Aragonian (middle Miocene) mammalian faunas from the Madrid Basin based on body-size structure, Journal of Iberian Geology, 40, 1, 129-140.
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Mesa, A., Moreno Bofarull, A., Hernández Fernández, M. 2013. Global climate changes drive ecological specialization of mammal faunas: trends in rodent assemblages from the Iberian Plio-Pleistocene, BMC evolutionary biology, 13, 1, 94.
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Hernández Fernández, M., Álvarez-Sierra, M. A. 2013. Dietary ecology of Murinae (Muridae, Rodentia): a geometric morphometric approach, PloS one, 8, 11, e79080.
  • Hernández Fernández, M., Cantalapiedra, J. L., Gómez Cano, A.R., Yelo, B. G., Moreno Bofarul, A. 2012. Tempo and mode in the influence of global climatic changes on mammalian evolution, Quaternary International-Journal of the InternUnion for Quaternary Research, 279, 195.
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Hernández Fernández, M., Álvarez-Sierra, M. A. 2011. Biogeographic provincialism in rodent faunas from the Iberoccitanian Region (southwestern Europe) generates severe diachrony within the Mammalian Neogene (MN) biochronologic scale during the Late Miocene, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 307, 1-4, 193-204
  • Gómez Cano, A.R., Yelo, B.G., Hernández Fernández, M. 2006. Cenogramas, análisis bioclimático y muestreo en faunas de mamíferos: implicaciones para la aplicación de métodos de análisis paleoecológico, Estudios Geológicos, 62, 1, 135-144

Teaching

  • Paleontological prospecting and excavation / Prospección y Excavación Paleontológicas (2009-2010 and 2012-2013, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM).

  • General Paleontology for Engineering Geologist / Paleontología General para Ingeniero Geólogo (2013, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM).

  • Principles of Geology / Principios de Geología (2012, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM).

  • Palaeontology of Vertebrates / Paleontología de Vertebrados (2011, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM).

  • Paleobiogeography / Paleobiogeografía (2010, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM).

Direction of doctoral theses and/or final degree projects

  • Evolución morfológica y ecológica de Sciuridae (Rodentia, Mammalia) durante el Neógeno: relación con cambios climáticos globales (Thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM, In proccess).

  • Ecological specialization in late Miocene rodent faunas from the Iberoccitanian Region (Master Disertation, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM, Student: Fernando Blanco Segovia, qualification: Excellent (9.5/10), date: 08/07/2016).

  • Quantitative palaeoclimatic analysis of the middle Miocene mammalian fauna from Somosaguas(Master Disertation, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, UCM, Student: Iris Menéndez González, qualification: Excellent (9.5/10), date: 08/07/2016).

Member of the following societies

  • Asociación Española de Comunicación Científica (AECC).
  • Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre (AEET).
  • European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP).
  • European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB).
  • Sociedad Española de Paleontología (SEP).