Understand how biodiversity (across biological scales) is structured in space and time, and which are the ecological and environmental drivers that determine the patterns observed in coastal marine ecosystems.

Explain and predict how coastal benthic communities (and the functions they provide) are and will be affected by current and expected environmental changes in the frame of global change, combining the statistical modelling of large-scale observational data and experimental manipulations.

Use of the generated biological information to design and implement sustainable strategies for the mitigation of pervasive anthropogenic pressures in coastal environments (e.g. eutrophication, accumulation of biocides used in leisure boating).

2015 – present. Doctorate in Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Biological Oceanography. Institution: University of Kiel, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Kiel, Germany. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Martin Wahl.

2011 – 2014. Master in Biology. Institution: Programme for the Development of Basic Sciences (PEDECIBA), Faculty of Science, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Omar Defeo.

2006 – 2011. Bachelor in Biology. Institution: Faculty of Science, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay. Advisor: Prof. Dr. Omar Defeo.

2015 – present. Research Grants - Doctoral Programmes in Germany, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany.

2012 – 2014. Post-graduate scholarship, National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), Uruguay.

2011–2012. Scholarship for research initiation, National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII), Uruguay.

2019. Barboza FR, Kotta J, Weinberger F, Jormalainen V, Kraufvelin P, Molis M, Schubert H, Pavia H, Nylund GM, Kautsky L, Schagerström E, Rickert E, Saha M, Fredriksen S, Martin G, Torn K, Ruuskanen A & Wahl M. Geographic variation in fitness‐related traits of the bladderwrack Fucus vesiculosus along the Baltic Sea‐North Sea salinity gradient. Ecology and Evolution, 9, 9225–9238.

2019. Ito M, Scotti M, Franz M, Barboza FR, Buchholz B, Zimmer M, Guy-Haim T & Wahl M. Effects of temperature on carbon circulation in macroalgal food webs are mediated by herbivores. Marine Biology, 166.

2019. Saha M, Barboza FR, Somerfield PJ, Al-Janabi B, Beck M, Brakel J, Ito M, Pansch C, Nascimento-Schulze JC, Jakobsson Thor S, Weinberger F & Sawall Y. Response of foundation macrophytes to near-natural simulated marine heatwaves. Global Change Biology.

2019. Ito M, Franz M & Barboza FR. Pathways to link biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: from monitoring to complex ecological interactions studies. Community Ecology, 20, 107–109.

2019. Golinia P, Nasrolahi A & Barboza FR. Biofouling in the Southern Caspian Sea: recruitment and successional patterns in a low diversity region. Community Ecology, 20, 110–120.

2019. Franz M, Barboza FR, Hinrichsen H-H, Lehmann A, Scotti M, Hiebenthal C, Molis M, Schütt R & Wahl M. Long-term records of hard-bottom communities in the southwestern Baltic Sea reveal the decline of a foundation species. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 219, 242–251.

2018. Pansch C, Scotti M, Barboza FR, Al-Janabi B, Brakel J, Briski E, Bucholz B, Franz M, Ito M, Paiva F, Saha M, Sawall Y, Weinberger F, Wahl M. Heat waves and their significance for a temperate benthic community: a near natural experimental approach. Global Change Biology, 24, 4357–4367.

2017. Defeo O, Barboza CAM, Barboza FR, Aeberhard WH, Cabrini TMB, Cardoso RS, Ortega L, Skinner V, Worm B. Aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity: An interocean comparison. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26, 823-834.

2016. Fanini L, Zampicinini G, Tsigenopoulos CS, Barboza FR, Lozoya JP, Gómez J, Celentano E, Lercari D, Marchettie GM & Defeo O. Life-history, substrate choice and Cytochrome Oxidase I variations in sandy beach peracaridans along the Rio de la Plata estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 187, 152–159.

2016. Rickert E, Lenz M, Barboza FR, Gorb SN, Wahl M. Seasonally fluctuating chemical microfouling control in Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus serratus from the Baltic Sea. Marine Biology, 163, 203.

2015. Barboza FR & Defeo O. Global diversity patterns in sandy beach macrofauna: a biogeographic analysis. Scientific Reports, 5, 14515.

2015. García-Alonso J, Gómez J, Barboza FR & Oliva-Paterna FJ. Pollution-toxicity relationships in sediments of the Segura River Basin. Limnetica, 34, 135–146.

2014. Barboza FR. Revisiting the concept of phenotypic plasticity in the reproductive modes of anurans. Boletín de la Sociedad Zoológica del Uruguay, 23, 16–29.

2014. De María M, Barboza FR & Szteren D. Predation of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens) on artisanal fisheries in the Rio de la Plata estuary. Fisheries Research, 149, 69–73.

2013. Gómez J., Barboza FR & Defeo O. Environmental drivers defining linkages among life-history traits: mechanistic insights from a semiterrestrial amphipod subjected to macroscale gradients. Ecology and Evolution, 3, 3918–3924.

2013. Sauco S, Gómez J, Barboza FR, Lercari D & Defeo O. Modified whole effluent toxicity test to assess and decouple wastewater effects from environmental gradients. Plos One, 8, 6, e66285.

2013. Bergamino L, Gómez J, Barboza FR & Lercari D. Major food web properties of two sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics, and effects on the stability. Aquatic Ecology, 47, 253–261.

2012. Barboza FR, Gómez J, Lercari D & Defeo O. Disentangling diversity patterns in sandy beaches along environmental gradients. Plos One, 7, 7, e40468.

2018. Barboza FR, Ito M & Franz M. Biodiversity and the Functioning of Ecosystems in the Age of Global Change: Integrating Knowledge Across Scales. In: Jungblut S., Liebich V. & Bode M (Eds.), YOUMARES 8–Oceans Across Boundaries: Learning from each other, pp. 167-178. Springer, Cham.

2016. Barboza FR & Franz M. The biodiversity of the Baltic Sea: insights from the past and perspectives for the future. In: Lozán J. L., Breckle S. W., Müller R. & Rachor E. (Eds.), Warnsignal Klima: Die Biodiversität, pp. 277–283. University of Hamburg, Hamburg.