Ot Pasques: Plant Physiology First Author

Ot Pasques, first author of “Physiological mechanisms underlying extreme longevity in mountain pine trees”

Current Position: PhD at the University of Barcelona on longevity and adaptability of high mountain species in different threatened ecosystems

Education: BSc in Biotechnology and MSc in Environmental Agrobiology at University of Barcelona (UB)

Non-scientific Interests: Nature, art, photography, Pyrenees

Brief bio: Since I was young I grew up in the Pyrenees, in an environment surrounded by nature and mountains. Once I started my BSc at the University of Barcelona I realised that plant ecology was my biggest passion. Since then, I have collaborated in various projects concerning the study of high-mountain plants from an ecophysiological, botanical and an ecological point of view. During my final degree project I joined the Antiox Ecophys Group to study the stress tolerance mechanisms of Plantago lanceolata across an altitudinal gradient in the Pyrenees. During my final master project I continued to study pyrenean plant life with a work concerning tree longevity. Alongside Prof. Munné-Bosch, I studied the morphological and physiological traits underlying longevity in extremely old Pinus uncinata trees located in the Pyrenees, focusing in several stress, growth, dormancy and vigor markers as well as in modular growth and dormancy.