ICTvsCC People

People

People

Jose-Vicente Oliver Villanueva

Full Professor-Director of the ICTvsCC Research Group

José Vicente Oliver is Full Professor of Forest Engineering at UPV and Director of the ICTvsCC Research Group at the ITACA Institute. With more than 35 years of experience, his research focuses on climate change, forest governance, the forestry-wood chain, bioeconomy, renewable energy and natural disturbances.

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BSc, MSc and PhD in Forestry at the University of Göttingen (Germany). Former lecturer at the University of Göttingen, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), University of Melbourne and Western Sydney University (Australia).

Victoria Lerma Arce

Associate Professor

Victoria Lerma Arce is a researcher and lecturer at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), specialised in climate change mitigation and the forest bioeconomy. Her research combines European and national R&D projects with knowledge transfer and the development of public environmental policies.

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Having been awarded a six-year CNEAI research grant, she has participated in around fifteen international and national R&D&I projects with funding totalling nearly one million euros, leading large-scale European and regional projects such as Interreg SUDOE REMAS and IVACE+i PREDATICS as principal investigator and scientific coordinator. Her scientific output includes 23 articles in indexed international journals, with a high proportion in the first quartile (Q1). She has also led the Official Carbon Stock Map for the Valencian Regional Government and worked as technical coordinator for the GHG Emissions Observatory of the Valencian Regional Government and the Valencia Governance Chair.

Borja Badenes Badenes

Associate Professor
Borja Badenes is Associate Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), specialising in advanced thermal modelling, shallow geothermal technologies, thermal energy storage and municipal energy planning. His research focuses on innovative energy solutions for the decarbonisation of cities.

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He is an Industrial Engineer and holds a PhD in Water and Environmental Engineering (cum laude). He has contributed to numerous national and European R&D projects under LIFE, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, and has been selected to lead geoTHERMEX, a national research project advancing geothermal models and supporting the wider deployment of ground-source heat pumps in Spain. His international research has generated more than 20 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 400 citations, including a paper recognised among the top 1% most cited in its field.

Bruno Armengot Carbó

Researcher

Bruno Armengot Carbó is a researcher at the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). His research focuses on renewable energy systems, shallow geothermal technologies and thermal energy efficiency, contributing to innovative solutions for climate change mitigation and sustainable energy systems.

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He has participated in several national and European research projects, supporting experimental research, technology development and scientific dissemination within multidisciplinary teams.

Marta Esteve Navarro

Researcher & Communication Manager
Marta Esteve is a researcher at the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), with more than 15 years of experience in the management and coordination of European and national R&D&I projects. Her work focuses on sustainable innovation, climate change, stakeholder engagement, knowledge transfer and science communication.

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Throughout her career, she has worked across the private sector, public administration and academia, developing a multidisciplinary perspective on sustainable innovation, climate change and environmental resilience. She combines scientific research, project management and science communication, with a particular focus on stakeholder engagement, knowledge transfer and the dissemination of research outcomes. She is currently pursuing a PhD on the social perception of sustainable forest management in the context of climate change.

Juanan Moreno Pérez

Researcher
Juan Antonio Moreno Pérez is a Project Technician at the ITACA Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). He contributes to national and European R&D&I projects focused on energy efficiency, climate change adaptation and sustainable development.

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His work includes technical coordination, data analysis and stakeholder collaboration within multidisciplinary research and innovation projects.

Edgar Lorenzo Sáez

Assistant Professor

Edgar Lorenzo Sáez is a researcher and lecturer at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), specialising in climate change, air quality, sustainable mobility and environmental assessment. His research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, artificial intelligence, environmental monitoring and decision-support systems for climate action.

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He has participated in numerous national and European R&D&I projects related to pollutant monitoring, emissions reduction and sustainable urban planning. He holds a PhD from the Universitat Politècnica de València, a BSc in Forestry and Environmental Engineering, and MSc degrees in Forestry Engineering and Renewable Energy.

Celia Yagüe Hurtado

Assistant Professor

Celia Yagüe Hurtado is a forestry engineer and researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Her research focuses on sustainable forest management for climate change mitigation and adaptation, with particular interest in voluntary carbon markets, forest fire prevention and the resilience of Mediterranean ecosystems.

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She is currently a PhD student on the Agricultural Resources and Technologies programme, a Higher Research Technician and Associate Lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics at UPV, as well as an external assessor for the Agency for Quality in the University System of Castile and León (ACSUCYL).

Eduardo Rojas Briales

Associate Professor
Eduardo Rojas-Briales is Professor of Forest Policy at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), with extensive experience in forest policy, sustainable forest management and global environmental governance. His career spans academia, public administration, the private sector and international organisations.

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He holds an MSc in Forestry from the University of Freiburg (Germany) and a PhD from the Polytechnical University of Madrid.

Between 2010 and 2015, he served as Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), leading its Forestry Department and chairing the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. He currently serves as Chair of PEFC International and Chair of the CIHEAM Advisory Board.

He has coordinated and advised numerous European and international initiatives, including Horizon Europe projects. Following the devastating floods that struck the Valencia region in October 2024, he was entrusted by the Regional Government of Valencia to lead the UPV team responsible for drafting the Integrated Strategy for the Regeneration of Rural Areas Affected by the Floods, promoting resilient landscape planning and nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and post-disaster recovery.

Hossein Javadi

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Hossein Javadi is a Senior Mechanical Engineer and Postdoctoral Researcher at the ITACA Institute, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Spain. His research focuses on shallow geothermal energy, thermal energy storage, heat transfer, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and advanced heat exchanger technologies.

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He has contributed to several European research and innovation projects and has authored numerous scientific publications in sustainable energy systems.

Rodolfo Zapata Zapata

Researcher

PhD in Engineering and Forestry Engineer (UPV), specialised in forestry engineering, acoustic tomography and electrophysiological signal analysis. His research combines forest engineering and plant electrophysiology with extensive technical experience in medical technology.

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His research interests include plant electrophysiology, acoustic tomography and environmental monitoring, with scientific publications in international journals. He has also contributed to research on forest ecosystems and wildfire-related carbon emissions, including work developed within the Interreg SUDOE REMAS project.

Eloina Coll Aliaga

Full Professor

Eloina Coll is Full Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and researcher at the ITACA Institute. Her expertise includes Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial databases, Spatial Data Infrastructures, open data, and smart and sustainable cities.

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She has extensive experience coordinating European and national R&D projects and has held several academic leadership positions, combining excellence in research, teaching, and university management.dame

Miguel A. Mateo Pla

Senior Lecturer

Miguel A. Mateo Pla is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering (DISCA) at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). His teaching focuses on microcontrollers and data processing infrastructures. His research at the ITACA Institute covers data science, distributed and intelligent sensing technologies, and shallow geothermal energy for energy-efficient buildings.

Aroa Marco Chueca

Senior Research Project Technician

Aroa Pilar Marco Chueca holds a Bachelor's Degree in Forestry and Natural Environment Engineering and a Master's Degree in Forest Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). She works in research project management at UPV, specialising in the technical, administrative and financial coordination of national and international R&D&I projects. Her professional experience focuses on research management, innovation and knowledge transfer in the forestry, environmental and agricultural sectors, contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources.

Javier F. Urchueguía Schölzel

Full Professor

Javier Fermín Urchueguía Schölzel is a Full Professor in the Department of Applied Physics at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Since 1988, his research has addressed energy conversion systems, ranging from internal combustion engines to heat pumps and heating and cooling technologies. Since 1998, his work has focused primarily on renewable thermal energy, particularly shallow geothermal energy. Since 2010, he has chaired the Geothermal Panel of the European Renewable Heating and Cooling Research and Innovation Platform.