Emilio Fernández received a degree and later a PhD in Biology from the University of Oviedo. He was a post-doctoral research fellow at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK), the Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Miami and at the Institute for Marine Research of the Spanish Reseach Council (CSIC). He took a position as lecturer of Marine Ecology at the Faculty of Marine Science of the University of Vigo in 1995 where he became full professor of Marine Ecology since 2011. His research has been focused on the study of biologically-mediated fluxes of matter and energy in marine systems in relation to environmental changes. At present, he is interested in the assessment of the functional response of coastal ecosystems to inputs of organic and inorganic matter in the context of global change. He is principal scientist of 16 research projects funded by regional, national and European agencies. His scientific record is summarized in more than 100 scientific papers published in indexed international journals. He was the Spanish representative in SCOR from 1999-2005 as well as member of the Spanish Marine Science IGBP committee (2001-2005), JGOFS North Atlantic Synthesis and Modelling Group (2000-2004) and SOLAS Programme (2000-2005). He was Co-chair of the ASLO meeting held in Santiago de Compostela in June 2005. Currently, he collaborates with MINECO within the Spanish Marine Science and Technology Programme.