Researcher Laura Concostrina receives the Ramón y Cajal grant to develop an innovative project in IHCantabria

The Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria) is pleased to announce that the postdoctoral researcher Laura Concostrina Zubiri has been awarded with a Ramón y Cajal Grant, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), through the State Research Agency (AEI), and co-funded by the European Union – ESF+.

This prestigious award, corresponding to one of the most important scientific calls in Spain, will allow Laura Concostrina to advance in her scientific career and develop a project focused on innovative solutions for water management and biodiversity conservation, which she will address at IHCantabria.

Laura Concostrina has an extensive academic and scientific career at the international level.
She has completed postdoctoral stays in prestigious institutions in Mexico, Japan, Portugal and Spain, which has allowed her to develop a solid expertise in areas such as functional diversity, global change ecology and the impact of land use change on ecosystem functioning.
During his career, he has led research on the relationship between functional diversity and ecosystem services in arid zones, collaborating with international networks such as the International Network for Sustainability in Arid Zones (RISZA), as well as projects on the impact of climate change on plant-soil relationships.

The researcher has developed a multidisciplinary profile that includes advanced skills in ecological modeling techniques and statistical analysis, which places her at the forefront in the development of nature-based solutions (SbN) to address environmental challenges and climate change.

The project that Laura Concostrina will lead in the Continental Ecosystems Group of IHCantabria, funded by the Ramón y Cajal grant, will focus on studying the role of riparian ecosystems as a backbone in the implementation of green and blue infrastructure networks.
These networks, composed of natural ecosystems such as rivers, forests and wetlands, are considered fundamental to improve resilience to water and climate hazards.

The project aims, first, to characterize biodiversity in riparian habitats, covering a wide range of environmental gradients that include both climatic and human-induced factors.
Second, it will investigate how environmental factors influence riparian biodiversity and how this, in turn, impacts river attributes and the capacity of ecosystems to regulate key functions such as erosion control or flood mitigation.
Finally, the project seeks to quantify the contribution of biodiversity to ecosystem services in riparian zones, evaluating alternative scenarios (e.g., nature-based solutions) to optimize natural infrastructure networks as climate adaptation tools.

The results of this research will provide scientific evidence to improve the design and effective implementation of nature-based solutions, promoting the use of ecosystems over traditional gray infrastructure, such as dams and dykes, to mitigate water risks, improve the ecological status of ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

This research will provide a response to important regional and international policy objectives related to natural resource management, biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation.
The results will be disseminated both at the scientific level and to environmental authorities and the general public through publications, meetings and workshops with stakeholders, and outreach activities.