Maria Herranz Matesanz

Maria Herranz Matesanz, Ph.D., serves as a Guest Researcher within the Department of Biology (Marine Biology) at the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Science, based at the Helsingør campus (Strandpromenaden 5, 3000 Helsingør). Her research focuses on marine invertebrate biodiversity, utilizing phylogenomics and advanced imaging techniques to study meiofauna and rare animal taxa.

Her research interests span marine invertebrate taxonomy, phylogenetics of microscopic organisms, and evolutionary adaptations in extreme environments. Key areas include:

• Genomic analysis of Micrognathozoa and Priapulida
• Autofluorescence imaging of micro-arthropod exuviae
• Cryptic speciation in circumtropical hemichordates
• Morphological evolution in kinorhynchs and loriciferans
• Population connectivity in Arctic meiofauna

Recent publications demonstrate interdisciplinary approaches combining molecular biology, computational methods, and traditional taxonomy.

Her 25 research outputs (2023-2025) reveal strong collaborative networks across Denmark, Spain, Japan, and the Americas, with frequent co-authorship with M. V. Sørensen and K. Worsaae. Publications appear in high-impact journals like Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, emphasizing open-access dissemination and significant social media engagement (25+ X posts, Wikipedia citations).

Professional recognition includes:

• ORCID: 0000-0002-3020-6072
• Mendeley readership across 8 publications (3-6 readers each)
• Bluesky and peer review site mentions

Maria actively contributes to marine biology through collaborative research projects analyzing global meiofauna distributions. Her work at the Helsingør marine station leverages museum collections and cutting-edge genomic tools to address fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, with emerging focus on machine learning applications in species identification.