Antonio is an ecologist by training with a strong interest in conservation conflicts. He is overall interested in exploring the complexity of people-nature relations, with the ultimate goal of understanding the ecological, economic and psychological dimensions that influence conservation.
He is Associate Professor of Sustainability at the University of Almeria (2020- ) and an Affiliated Faculty at the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University (2018- ). He is PI of the Sustainability, Resilience and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems Lab (SociECOS Lab) at UAL (2020-).
In 2011, he moved to the United States where spent over 8 years. First, as postdoctoral associate under the supervision of Dr. Caryn C. Vaughn at the University of Oklahoma (2012-2015) and later at Idaho State University (2015-2018) where he gained a position as Assistant Professor and started the Sustainability, Resilience and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems Lab (SociECOS Lab).
He is currently Associate Editor of Ecology & Society, People & Nature and Journal of Arid Environments. He served as Lead Author (2018-2022) in the chapter 3 focused on different valuation methodologies and approaches of the IPBES Values Assessment. He also is an active member of the GEOBON Ecosystem Services group and leader of the Dryland Working Group at the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP).
Anthropology and ethnology
Conservation Biology
Environmental Psychology
Public Health and Environmental Health
Sociology of the Environment
Spatial planning and urban development