SAUL
BLANCO LANZA

At the academic level, I have done postgraduate studies at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and at the National University of Distance Education. I have obtained 6 study and research grants and I have done 2 years of pre- and postdoctoral stays at the University of Valencia and at the Centre de Recherche Public Gabriel Lippmann (Luxembourg). In the field of research, I have specialized in taxonomy, ecology and biogeography of continental diatoms, being currently the Director of the University Service "Laboratorio de Diatomologia" of the University of León, which has obtained more than 2,000,000 euros in projects with companies and administrations since 2000, and has received 9 international researchers. I have participated as a collaborating researcher in 3 international, 12 national (2 as PI) and 8 regional scientific projects. I have collaborated in fifty agreements and contracts (art. 60 LOSU). I am Associate Professor at the University of León in charge of several subjects and I have given training courses for different administrations (CHD, MMA) and invited lectures and teaching seminars at the Universities of Málaga, Murcia, Évora, Javeriana (Bogotá), etc. I have supervised 2 doctoral theses, with 5 more in progress, and numerous undergraduate theses, TFG and TFM. I am a full member of the Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, being also editor of its journal. In parallel, I have developed a long work of scientific dissemination in collaboration with various public and private institutions.I have been responsible for the first Center for the Dissemination and Promotion of Science in León (Project FECyT 29502/224-4G), as well as promoter of the first Science Shop in Spain. I have also participated as a teacher in numerous seminars aimed at teacher training (e.g., Center for Teacher Training and Educational Innovation, Training of leisure time monitors, ESTALMAT project, etc.) and I am the sole author of 4 books and several articles on popular science. In terms of bibliometric indicators, I have published 164 WoS articles, 49 in Q1. I rank #8 out of >2800 researchers affiliated to the University of León in terms of scientific production (Scopus), #1 within the Faculty of Biology among active researchers. In 2017 and 2023, I was the author with the highest research productivity of this University in the branch of Sciences, with an index of 100 points out of a possible 100 (this index takes into account not only publications, but also the impact of the publications and the participation of the research staff in competitive projects). In successive years, I have remained among the 10 most productive researchers of the University on this scale. I am the author or co-author of 6 books published by international academic publishers, plus 9 book chapters. I am the author of the first illustrated guide to diatoms in Spain (bit.ly/2L4I7wN, bit.ly/2jYuMJU) for MAGRAMA, and the first diatom flora of the Mediterranean (bit.ly/2Goj6sO). I have presented a hundred communications in various international scientific congresses and conferences, 2 as invited speaker. I am associate editor of the ISI journals "Fottea", "Biodiversity Data Journal" and "Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution", as well as in "International Journal on Algae" and "Phycology". I have reviewed >100 manuscripts for >40 international journals.