When introducing myself, I cannot help stressing the fact that my background has been strongly influenced by my family’s origin. My father worked in the forestry sector all his life and my maternal grandfather was a charcoal-morker. Their knowledge of the environment was not academic, but very relevant in practical terms. With my father and grandfather and their colleagues I took my first steps in my understanding of the environment.  

The formation of empirical public knowledge continues to interest me, and it takes on special importance in my research work on manifestations of global change. In particular my research is focused on the analysis of the sociocultural driving forces of global change.

My academic background has various sources since I have been trained in diverse disciplines: Bachelor of Catalan Studies (University of Perpignan), Bachelor and Master’s degree in Geography, Doctor of Environmental Sciences (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and postgraduate studies in sociology and chemistry. Nowadays, I am a full professor and researcher at the Department of Geography and at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where I carry out investigations in the fields of global change, urban and forest biodiversity and environmental communication. My conceptual framework has to do with the analysis and diagnosis of the concepts of “nature” and “culture”, and overcoming the classical dichotomy between them , which has somehow separated nature from society.

I am a visiting professor at several universities in my country and abroad (Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, USA). Furthermore, I am the President of the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, as well as a member of several national and international organisations and associations linked to the protection and the study of the environment.

I have always considered that scientific knowledge must be transferred beyond its academic borders and be popularized as far as possible. As a result, I participate as a speaker in numerous forums as well as in diverse mass media (newspapers, radio and television).