Dr. Silvia Acinas is a researcher at the Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography at the ICM (Institut de Ciències del Mar), CSIC in Barcelona. Her research focuses on linking microbial genetic diversity with functional capacities of ecologically relevant marine microbial taxa using metagenomics, metranscriptomics, single cell genomics, and isolation. These approaches are used to gain insights into the evolutionary mechanisms underlying diversification processes. She is now focused on polar marine ecosystems (Arctic and Antarctic), which are threatened by climate change but also in blue-biotechnology research.