Fitxa persona

Andreu Rico is a distinguished researcher in the Limnology Group (GIUV2013-135) at the Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia (UV), Spain. He obtained his PhD in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University (the Netherlands) in 2014. His research career has focused on aquatic ecology, ecotoxicology, and environmental risk assessment, with particular emphasis on the effects of chemical contaminants and their interactions with climate change and other stressors in freshwater ecosystems.

PROFILES / ORCID: 0000-0002-1820-4218 | SCOPUS: 35096511800 | Google Scholar: ‪Andreu Rico‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

RESEARCH / His research focuses on (i) the experimental and modelling-based assessment of the effects of emerging contaminants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and microplastics, on aquatic organisms, populations, and communities; (ii) the development and application of mechanistic chemical exposure models, food-web and ecosystem models, and statistical models for environmental risk assessment; and (iii) investigating the combined effects of chemical pollution and climate-related stressors, such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts, on the structure and functioning of freshwater ecosystems.

He obtained his PhD from Wageningen University in 2014 and subsequently worked as a junior researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research. Between 2015 and 2021, he conducted research at the IMDEA Water Institute (Spain). From 2019 to 2021, he coordinated the Ecotoxicology Group at IMDEA Water and served as principal investigator (PI) on four research projects. He also coordinated the SilentAmazon project (2019–2020), funded by the National Geographic Society, which brought together research institutions from Latin America and Europe to investigate the large-scale impacts of chemical pollution on Amazonian freshwater ecosystems.

Since 2021, he has been based at the University of Valencia, where he coordinates the mesocosm facilities at the Albufera Biological Station. He has participated in more than 20 research projects, serving as coordinator or PI in many of them, and has helped secure more than €3.5 million in research funding. He has authored more than 150 scientific publications and book chapters. His career also includes more than two years of research stays in six countries: Costa Rica, Brazil, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, and China.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER, COLLABORATION AND SCIENTIFIC RECOGNITION / He has been a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) since 2008 and an editor of the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry since 2020. He is a member of the European Medicines Agency's Environmental Risk Assessment Working Party and has participated in several national and international research networks, including NORMAN. He also serves on the Scientific Committee of the Albufera Natural Park (SC-JRPNA), helping to strengthen the links between scientific research and environmental management. His work has received several international awards, including the SETAC Best Paper Award (2015) and the Young Investigator Award from the journal Toxics (2021).

EDUCATION AND TEACHING / He contributes to teaching on the Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Sciences and the Master's Degree in Environmental Pollution and Ecotoxicology at the University of Valencia, primarily in courses related to ecology and environmental pollution. He has extensive experience in research training and academic supervision, having supervised nine PhD theses and more than 25 bachelor's and master's dissertations.