Afonso Barrocal

Afonso Barrocal is an external collaborator at CE3C and a member of the InWild research group. His work sits at the intersection of ecology, paleontology, and conservation science, with a particular interest in understanding ecological patterns across long temporal scales and their relevance for present-day biodiversity conservation.
He holds a MSc in Conservation Biology, having completed his thesis entitled “Back to the Future: The historical distribution of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Iberian Peninsula”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Luís Miguel Rosalino (Ciências ULisboa/CE3C) and Dr. Miguel Clavero (CSIC/EBD). This work explored how historical and paleoecological information can be used to inform contemporary conservation and promote species recovery efforts. His main research interests include historical ecology, conservation paleobiology, paleoecology (with a specific focus on the Miocene and Pleistocene epochs), and carnivore ecology. 
In addition, Afonso has a strong background in ecological modelling and biostatistics, particularly in species distribution models and spatial statistics, which he applies to the study of species distributions, past environments, and biodiversity change. Although his research primarily focuses on mammalian fauna, he has also worked with other taxonomic groups, including birds, insects, and plants, reflecting a broad and integrative research approach.
Afonso actively collaborates with multiple research groups and institutions. Within CE3C, he works closely with the Biodiversity Monitoring & Citizen Science and the Tropical and Mediterranean Biodiversity research groups. Beyond CE3C, he maintains strong collaborative links with GEOBIOTEC (NOVA-FCT), the Centre for Statistics and Applications at the University of Lisbon (CEAUL), the Instituto Dom Luiz (IDL), the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Stockholm University), and the Doñana Biological Station (CSIC/EBD).