Research Professor at the Spanish National Centre for Biotechnology (CSIC, Madrid, Severo Ochoa Centre) (Spain). PhD in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). Lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona with 25 years’ experience as a researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC, Barcelona), working in the fields of marine microbial ecology and extreme environments. He has written three popular books (Desert d’aigua: Relat d’un científic a la banquisa àrtica, La vida al límite, Bajo la piel del océano) and the novel El diablo de Tasmania.