ICRA News

Sergi Sabater, deputy director of the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), received the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL) Award, in recognition of his scientific career, in the framework of the SIBECOL AIL Meeting 2022, which was held from 3 to 8 July in Aveiro (Portugal). The Award is a distinction for the achievements of an individual in the field of Iberian limnology, including research, education, dissemination and transfer.

Under the slogan "Ecology: Improving our sustainable future through scientific knowledge", the Congress presents a joint event that includes the II Meeting of the Iberian Society of Ecology (SIBECOL), the XXI Congress of the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL) and the 21st National Meeting of Ecology of the Portuguese Society of Ecology (SPECO).

Sergi Sabater Cortés (1958) received his PhD in Biology from the University of Barcelona under the supervision of the eminent Prof. Ramon Margalef, who introduced him to limnology. Since then, his research has focused on the ecology of river ecosystems, especially on the structure and ecological functions of primary producers and heterotrophs in the benthos and water column, the metabolism and functioning of rivers, and the effects of global change on freshwaters.

Sabater has co-edited several books and has published a large number of scientific articles on ecology and environmental sciences in high-impact international scientific journals. Dr. Sabater has combined research with editorial commitments in scientific journals and teaching, first at the University of Barcelona and, since 2003, at the University of Girona, where he is a member of the Research Group on Inland Aquatic Ecology (GRECO) and the Institute of Aquatic Ecology.

He is also the deputy director of the Catalan Institute for Water Research, since 2008 when he was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the lCRA, and a senior researcher expert in the ecology of river ecosystems, especially in the function of biofilms, the metabolism and functioning of river systems, and the effects of global change on river systems.

Sabater currently focuses his research, as he explained at the Congress, "on the effects of water scarcity and the impact of pollutants as concurrent stress factors that shape the current state of river ecosystems". After receiving the award, the professor read the paper "A reflection for Science in Ecology. Does river flow show a path?".

Researchers from ICRA's RWE (Resources and Ecosystems) area also participated in the congress with several workshops and presentations. D. students, Gabriela Córdoba and Dayana Jarma, who respectively gave the presentations "Changes in hydrological patterns of a highly stressed Mediterranean basin and their implications for water chemistry and primary production" and "Gulls carrying antibiotic resistance: How does this relationship vary in space and in relation to their intestinal bacterial communities? The limnologist Anna Freixa spoke on "The relevance of wet events during dry periods in the bacterial communities of temporary streams". Predoctoral researcher Daniela Henry gave a presentation on "Carbon sequestration in reservoir sediments: understanding connections and potential impacts along the land-to-ocean continuum".