Biologist Julen Torrens Baile (Pamplona, 24 years old) has been awarded the award Young Researchers prize, which is awarded every year by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), an international data network funded by governments around the world to provide free and open access to biodiversity data.

This international organisation organises an annual competition for young researchers in two categories - any master's or doctoral student from a country within the GBIF network can participate - and rewards the most original and innovative work in the use and analysis of data downloaded from GBIF, as well as the impact of the research carried out in the field of bioinformatics and the conservation of biodiversity.

Julen's work - entitled "Improving predictions from Species Distribution Models through temporal analysis of distribution data" - is based on improving species citation data to produce distribution models of invasive species so that a more accurate prediction of potential locations where a species could become invasive can be made.

"By obtaining more specific and reliable results from the maps of the potential distribution of invasive alien species, we can know more precisely which areas are suitable for these species. This provides very valuable information for the proper management of invasive species that cause so many problems in ecosystems," says the young man from Navarre.

Julen's proposal suggests a data pre-processingprotocol to increase the quality of the biological information and improve the reference information by carrying out a prior analysis of the citations. The aim is to estimate the presence of these species "using chains of presence and absence data over different years to study the dynamics of the populations of these species in the areas where they have been introduced".

For Torrens, it is very important to manage these exotic species properly, as their impact is very high in different spheres. "They cause the extinction of native species, the degradation of the ecosystems themselves or negative impacts on human welfare. They also cause social and economic damage, such as losses in agricultural or forestry production, damage to human or animal health and huge costs associated with their management," he adds.

Julen Torrens will receive a €5,000 cash prize award and shares the award with Michael Belitz, PhD student of the University of Florida. Torrens becomes the second Spaniard to receive this award and follows in the footsteps of Nora Escribano, also from Navarre and a former student of the School Sciences, who received this award in 2017.

Julen Torrens Baile is graduate in Biology (2020) and Master in Computational Methods in Science (2021) by the School of Sciences of the University of Navarra.

Julen's work is part of the actions of LIFE iNVASAQUA, a European governance and communication project whose ultimate goal is the communication, training and dissemination of information on aquatic Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in Spain and Portugal.