Hi I'm
Dr Marina Martinez-Alvaro

Position: Postdoctoral Researcher in Genomics and Metagenomics
Location: Edinburgh Campus
Expertise:
- Livestock and Fishing
- Agriculture, Crops and Soils

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I have a degree in Agricultural Engineering, a Master's degree in Animal Breeding and Genetics and I obtained my PhD in 2017 with the development of a selection experiment for intramuscular fat in rabbits, all at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV).

Afterwards, I wanted to expand my knowledge in animal breeding to other fields, especially metagenomics and the study of the influence of host genetics on the microbiome. I moved to Edinburgh where I am investigating how best to use information on the composition of the bovine microbiome to predict feed efficiency and methane emissions at the phenotypic and genetic level. This approach is of great interest to the beef industry because it offers the opportunity to improve the accuracy of genetic evaluation of animals for these traits and consequently accelerates the response to selection, contributing to faster sustainable beef production.

Areas of expertise and interests

Livestock and Fishing
Agriculture, Crops and Soils

I'm currently working on

elucidating bovine host genomic links with rumen microbial genes to improve feed efficiency and reduce methane emissions

My professional highlights

several research papers as first author, all published in Q1 journals
reviewer for different Q1 journals
awarded the 2018 PhD Thesis Extraordinary Award by the UPV
more than 30 presentations at international conferences, including two invited talks at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA, Madrid) and UPV
during my PhD was awarded the prize for the best research paper by a young scientist in the field of breeding and genetics (11th WRC) and the prize for the best poster by the Genetics Commission (66th EAAP)
awarded several grants from the Spanish Ministry
taught Animal Breeding courses in different masters and graduate programmes at UPV and the University of Edinburgh
organised short courses in the field of data analysis
co-supervised master theses and assessed PhD theses of students in INIA and UPV

Additional links

Twitter profile

Find out more about our research services

Research services

Our work addresses health and productivity in animals, animal welfare and crops, promotes low carbon farming and increases farm output through efficiency and innovation.