Leocadio Blanco Bercial

Assistant Professor,

School of Ocean Futures Faculty

Other ASU affiliations

Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences

Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars

School of Ocean Futures

leocadio@asu.edu

Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences 17 Biological Station St Georges, GE 01
Mail code: 7904

Campus: Tempe
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Long Bio

Leo Blanco-Bercial received his doctorate from the University of Oviedo (Spain), where he studied plankton ecology and population dynamics in the Cantabrian Sea. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut, he added molecular tools to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of distribution, connectivity and evolution of marine plankton. He joined the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) in 2015. After the integration of BIOS in the Arizona State University, Blanco-Bercial is now assistant professor in the School of Ocean Futures and the School of Life Sciences.

Education

Ph.D. Biology, University of Oviedo, Spain 2002-2009
M.S. Biology, University of Oviedo, Spain 2000-2002
B.S. Biology, University of Oviedo, Spain 2000

Research Website URL

http://www.bios.edu/research/projects/zooplankton-ecology/

Google Scholar URL

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dwC_KAIAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID Profile ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0658-7183

Research Interests

My research is focused on understanding how eukaryotic diversity (in its many facets) is originated, maintained and organized in the open ocean, and incorporating those eukaryotic diversity measurements into the main ocean biogeochemical models. Initially trained as a morphological taxonomist and ecologist, I integrate molecular and classical (morphological/image) tools in order to address questions that cannot otherwise be resolved: Plankton Community diversity and its impact on present conditions and future changes in the ocean; Connectivity of populations and its consequences for adaptation and evolution; and Phylogenetic relationships, and their relationship to evolution, diversity and functionality.

Research Activity

Quantifying the drivers of midwater zooplankton community structure

Zooplankton mediation of particle formation in the Sargasso Sea

VAMPIRE: an autonomous profiling vehicle for concurrent acoustic, visual and environmental measurements in the mesopelagic ocean

BIOSSCOPE: plankton ecology and biogeochemistry in the Sargasso Sea

Ecological and biogeochemical role of Rhizaria in the oligotrophic ocean

Courses

2025 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
SEA 394	Special Topics

2024 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 499	Individualized Instruction
BIO 320	Fundamentals of Ecology

2024 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
SEA 394	Special Topics

2023 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 499	Individualized Instruction
BIO 321	Introductory Ecology Lab
BIO 321	Introductory Ecology Lab

2022 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
BIO 494	Special Topics
BIO 598	Special Topics

Expertise Areas

Systematics and Taxonomy