Dr. Andrea Polanco Fernandez
Dr. Andrea Polanco Fernandez
Staff of Professorship for Microbiome Research
Additional information
Research area
My research involves the study of marine biodiversity and taxonomy with a focus on fishes. My research involved investigation into a wide range of topics such as taxonomy, systematics, ecology and zoogeography. I worked as a senior researcher (2003 - 2021) and fish curator at the Makuriwa Museum (2008 - 2021) at INVEMAR Colombia, which allowed me participate in the monitoring and management of biodiversity and conservation of marine areas. Furthermore, I was strongly involved in the national biodiversity inventories, which are the basis for conservation plans. I have expanded my research focus to the use of environmental DNA for biodiversity monitoring, to facilitate the monitoring of biodiversity in marine environments. Based in Zurich, I am still working in the production and edition of an online catalog of fishes of Colombia as part of the group of expert ichthyologists of the country. Currently, my research interests cover the investigation of the general ecological principles underlying the spatial organization of biodiversity of marine eukaryotes.
Andrea Polanco is a postdoc at the Sunagawa Lab in the Department of Biology at ETH Zürich since 2022. She was born in Colombia, where she studied Biology (Diploma 2002) and Marine Biology (MSc 2006). In 2015, she graduated with a PhD in Marine Sciences cotitulated by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany. She worked as a senior researcher (2003 - 2021) and fish curator at the Makuriwa Museum (2008 - 2021) at INVEMAR Colombia.
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Environmental DNA highlights fish biodiversity in mesophotic ecosystems
Muff, M., Jaquier, M., Marques, V., Ballesta, L., Deter, J., Bockel, T., Hocdé, R., Juhel, J.B., Boulanger, E., Guellati, N., Fernández, A.P., Valentini, A., Dejean, T., Manel, S., Albouy, C., Durville, P., Mouillot, D., Holon, F., & Pellissier, L.
Environmental DNA 2022
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.358
Ecological indices from environmental DNA to contrast coastal reefs under different anthropogenic pressures
Polanco F., A., Waldock, C., Keggin, T., Marques, V., Rozanski, R., Valentini, A., Dejean, T., Manel, S., Vermej, M., Albouy, C. & Pellissier, L.
Ecology and Evolution 2022, 12(8), e9212.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9212
Cross-ocean patterns and processes in fish biodiversity on coral reefs through the lens of eDNA metabarcoding
Mathon, L., Marques, V., Mouillot, D., Albouy, C., Andrello, M., Baletaud, F., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Dejean, T.,Edgar, G. J., Grondin, J., Guerin, P. E., Hocdé R., Juhel J.B., Kadarusman E. M., Mariani, G., Mclean, M., Polanco F., A., Pouyaud, L., Stuart-Smith, R. D., Sugeha H. Y., Valentini, A., Vigliola, L., Vimono, I. B., Pellissier, L., & Manel, S.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2022, 289(1973), 20220162.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0162
Comparing the performance of 12S mitochondrial primers for fish environmental DNA across ecosystems
Polanco F., A., Richards, E., Fluck B., Valentini, A., Altermatt, F., Brosse, S., Walser, J.C., Eme D., Marques, V., Manel, S., Albouy, C., Dejean, T., Pellissier, L.
Environmental DNA 2021, 3(6), 1113-1127
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.232
How many replicates to accurately estimate fish biodiversity using environmental DNA on coral reefs?
Stauffer, S., Jucker, M., Keggin, T., Marques, V., Andrello, M., Bessudo, S., Cheutin, M. C., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Dejean, T., Juhel J.B., Loiseau, N., Maire E., Martinezguerra, M. M, Manel, S., Polanco F., A., Valentini, A., Mouillot, D., Velez L., Letessier, T.B., Albouy C., Pellissier, L., WALDOCK, C.
Ecology and evolution 2021, 11(21), 14630-14643
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8150
Use of environmental DNA in assessment of fish functional and phylogenetic diversity
Marques, V., Castagné, P., Polanco F., A., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Hocdé R., Guérin, P.E., Juhel J.B., Velez L., Loiseau, N., Letessier, T.B., Bessudo, S., Valentini, A., Dejean, T., Mouillot, D., Pellissier, L., Villéger, S.
Conservation Biology 2021, 35(6), 1944-1956.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13802
Recovering aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in a tropical estuary using environmental DNA
Polanco F, A., Martinezguerra, M. M, Marques, V., Villa-Navarro F., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Cheutin, M. C., Dejean T., Hocdé R., Juhel J.B., Maire E., Manel S., Spescha M., Valentini A., Mouillot D., Albouy C., Pellissier L.
Biotropica 2021, 53(6), 1606-1619
https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13009
Comparing environmental DNA metabarcoding and underwater visual census to monitor tropical reef fishes
Polanco Fernández, A., Marques, V., Fopp, F., Juhel, J. B., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Cheutin, M. C., ... & Pellissier, L.
Environmental DNA 2021, 3(1), 142-156
https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.140
Detection of the elusive Dwarf sperm whale (Kogia sima) using environmental DNA at Malpelo island (Eastern Pacific, Colombia)
Juhel, J. B., Marques, V., Fernández, A. P., Borrero‐Pérez, G. H., Martinezguerra, M. M., Valentini, A., ... & Pellissier, L.
Ecology and Evolution 2021, 11(7), 2956.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.7057
Marine fish diversity in Tropical America associated with both past and present environmental conditions
Polanco F, A., Fopp, F., Albouy, C., Brun, P., Boschman, l., & Pellissier, L.
Journal of Biogeography 2020, 47(12), 2597-2610.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13985
New records and update on the geographic distribution of the Bonyeared Assfish, Acanthonus armatusGünther, 1878 (Ophidiidae, Neobythitinae), in the Caribbean region
Polanco, a., Dueñas, l. f., Leon, j., & Puentes, v.
Check List 2019, 15, 767.
https://doi.org/10.15560/15.5.767
No longer a circumtropical species: revision of the lizardfishes in the Trachinocephalus myops species complex, with description of a new species from the Marquesas Islands
Polanco F. A., Acero P. A. & Betancur-R R.
Fish Biology 2016, 89 (2), 1302-1303
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13038
A New Species of Hagfish (Myxinidae: Eptatretus) from the Colombian Caribbean
Polanco Fernandez. A. & Fernholm B.
Copeia 2014 , (3): 530–533.