Astronomy

Overview

I graduated in Physics and Astronomy in 1989 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). I obtained my PhD at the University of Durham (England) in 1994. My first postdoctoral position was held at the University of California Observatories in Santa Cruz, working on the “Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe” Survey. In 1998, I was awarded a “Hubble Fellowship” at Yale University. I joined the UF Department of Astronomy in 2001 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. I became a tenured Associate Professor at UF in 2003. In 2006, I was awarded a “Distinguished Professorship” at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and since then I have maintained a joint position as “Honorary Collaborator”. I am currently Deputy PI of a major project entitled “First Science with the GTC”, funded with $6.5M by the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. From 2008 to 2010, I served as Chair of the GTC International Steering Committee and as Executive Director of the International School for Advanced Instrumentation. In 2009, I was promoted to Full Professor and appointed Chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Florida.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Astronomy, University of Durham, 1994
• B.Sc., Physics & Astronomy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1989

Research

My main area of research is galaxy evolution over cosmological timescales. In particular, I study the structure, kinematics and stellar populations of galaxies both in the nearby universe and in the distant universe. The comparative analysis of these galaxy properties at differente epochs allows us to describe how galaxies have evolved in the last 12 billion years.

This type of work requires large amounts of data from galaxy surveys obtained using state-of-the-art instrumentation in the largest observatories through major international collaborations. I am the Principal Investigator (PI) of the “Galaxy Origins and Young Assembly” Survey (using EMIR at the GTC), and the Local Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies Survey (using PPAK at CAHA). I am also co-PI of the FLAMINGOS-2 Galaxy Evolution Survey (using F2 in Gemini), and co-I of the HST Treasury Survey of the Coma cluster (using ACS at HST). Finally, I am also a Core Team member of the All-Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (using all the largest observatories on Earth and in Space).

Other research interests include astronomical instrumentation, specially IR spectrographs and Integral Field Units for the new generation of large observatories. I am co-PI or co-I of the following instruments: EMIR at GTC, FISICA at KPNO, and IRMOS at TMT.

Areas of Expertise

• Starburst Galaxies at High- and Low-Redshifts
• Dwarf Early-Type Galaxies in Nearby Clusters
• Galaxy Scaling-Laws.