María F. Montero

María F. Montero is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), specializing in marine sciences and biological oceanography. She earned her PhD in Marine Sciences (Biological Oceanography) from ULPGC in 1993, following a BSc in Marine Biology from the University of La Laguna. Her career includes postdoctoral research funded by European projects and roles as a technician and lecturer.

Her research focuses on microbial communities, plankton respiratory activity, and dissolved organic matter dynamics. Key interests include linking metabolic processes to ecosystem health, assessing water quality via microbial indices, and studying upwelling systems' carbon sequestration potential. She has participated in oceanographic cruises and mesocosm experiments (e.g., KOSMOS 2018), exploring topics like dust deposition impacts and artificial upwelling effects.

Recent work spans social perception studies of mental health, coastal eutrophication, and satellite vs. in situ primary production comparisons. Her contributions bridge marine microbiology with environmental monitoring and climate change mitigation strategies.