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More projects coming soon
CVRRICVLVM VITAE
Alejandro Cano – Lasso Carretero
Born 1988, Madrid.
Artist and early-career scientist with over ten years of experience in illustration and design. Committed to a multidisciplinary approach to marine conservation, creates art to communicate scientific research and inspire the general public to care for science and the ocean. Accomplished in various media, uses both hand-drawing and digital software to produce natural history plates, scientific figures or art installations. Works independently or in collaboration with other artists and scientists to communicate forefront oceanographic studies.
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EDUCATION
September 2007 – May 2011
Slade School of Fine Arts (University College of London) B.A. with honors
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September 2020 – September 2021
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (University of California San Diego) M.A.S. Marine Biodiversity and Conservation
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EXPERIENCE
February 2021 – today
San Diego State University Department of Biology, San Diego, California. Research experience, Volunteering. · Studying the mechanisms of acoustic reception in baleen whales. This work is needed in the field of ocean management and conservation, to mitigate human noise impact on whales. · Revealed the role of gray whale mandibles in low frequency hearing. · The accompanying art collection, created in conjunction with these studies, has been used by colleagues in the field of whale acoustics for scientific outreach purposes
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September 2020 – today
Choy Laboratory (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), San Diego, California. Field and lab research experience, Internship. · Executed an art collection to illustrate deep-sea biodiversity for laboratory outreach programs. · Creating figures for research papers focused on stomach content analyses, emphasizing trophic food-webs and species connectivity in deep pelagic environments. Two papers published. · Engaged in cruise work, collecting, identifying and preserving specimens for biochemical tests, biomass analyses and anatomical studies. · Studying the gastrointestinal anatomy of mid-water fishes, describing and illustrating the anatomy of understudied species to identify morphological traits induced by ecology, metabolism, and predator-prey interactions..
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November 2020 – May 2021
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, San Diego, California. Artist, Project collaborator. · Made valuable contributions to projects led by Fishfull Future. The resulting artwork from these collaborative efforts serves the dual purpose of inspiring creative uses for seafood ‘waste’ products and promoting the sustainability of San Diego’s local fisheries.
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MAJOR AWARDS AND HONORS
2021
· Interdisciplinary Research Award (Graduate Student Division, University of California San Diego)
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2020
· Enhanced Educational Opportunity scholarship (Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
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RELEVANT EXHIBITIONS
2024
· Humble Matter, Tierra y Tiempo, Calle Santo Tomé, 28004 Madrid. Group exhibition about the use of natural materials in design manufacture.
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2019
· Hybrid, Plaza de Santa Bárbara, 28004 Madrid. Invitation to participate in Hybrid festival art fair, with a bionic design of a foldable lamp.
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2018
· Comederos, Barbecho. C. Acebo 6, 28016 Madrid. Group show reclaiming craftsmanship through the production of bird feeders.
· Los Cachos, Barbecho. C. Acebo 6, 28016 Madrid. Solo exhibition introducing the series ‘Los Cachos’, with the head of a humpback whale and two blue whale hearts.
· Los ‘Apartes’ del arquitecto, Cruz Bajo, Calle de Don Ramón de la Cruz, 15, 28001 Madrid. Group exhibition on furniture design.
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2017
· Prototipos 1, Barbecho. C. Acebo 6, 28016 Madrid.
· Prototipos 2, Barbecho. C. Acebo 6, 28016 Madrid. Two workshops and group exhibitions about biodegradable furniture.
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2012
· Now I Gotta Reason, Jerwood Space, 171 Union St, London SE1 0LN. Workshop about handcraft curated by Grizedale Arts.
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2011
· Slade Degree Show, Slade School of Fine Arts, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. Official presentation of the ‘Natural History’ series with a live sized Sperm Whale and Manta Ray.
· Open innovation, The Interoceanic Canal Museum of Panama, Calle 5a Este, Panamá. Presentation of a video about ‘El Batel’ Congress Centre in Cartagena, part of a group show in collaboration with SelgasCano.
· It Started with a Car Crash, Slade Research Centre, Woburn Square, London, WC1H 0AB. Performance event and exhibition about merzsummer school, Lake District, England, in 2011.
· Architectural Environments for Tomorrow, MOMA, 150-0001 Tokyo, 5 Chome−10−1 GYRE. Presentation of a video about SelgasCano’s ‘silicon house’. In collaboration with SelgasCano.
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2010
· Buoy, Trinity Buoy Warf, 64 Orchard Place, London E14 0JW. Outdoor sculptural installation of a stranded whale by the Thames.
· Contemplating the Void, The Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10128. Proposal for an intervention in the Guggenheim Museum, in collaboration with SelgasCano architecture studio.
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PERMANENT WORKS
2023
· Coffee and Sea Cafe, Bailuwan Town, Rizhao, Shandong, China.
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2021
· Coffee and Tree Cafe, Rose Courtyard, Art District of Egret Bay Town, Rizhao, Shandong, China.
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2019
· Second Home London Fields, 125–127 Mare Street, London E8 3SJ.
· Second Home Hollywood, 1370 N Saint Andrew’s Place, Los Angeles, CA 90028. Furniture design and space curation of the co-working spaces of Second Home.
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2016
· Librería, 65 Hanbury Street, London E1 5JP. Interior design and space curation of ‘Librería’, a bookshop by Second Home.
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2014
· Second Home Spitafields, 68 Hanbury Street, London E1 5JL. Furniture Design and lighting for the first work spaces of Second Home.
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PUBLICATIONS
2025
· N. D. Gallo at al., 2025. Illuminating deep-sea considerations and experimental approaches for mCDR proposals. Environmental Research Letters, Institute of Physics Publishing, Vol. 20, N. 6. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/add8a6
2024
· NOAA Ocean Exploration. Student Explorations Around Southern California: Acoustics, Paleolandscapes, and Environments at Sea (SEASCAPES). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Scripps Institution of Oceanography. https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/23seascapes/features/paleolandscapes/paleolandscapes.html
2023
· E. J. Portner, T. Mowatt-Larssen, A. Cano-Lasso Carretero. E. A. Contreras, P. A. Woodworth-Jefcoats, B. W. Frable & C. A. Choy. Harnessing a mesopelagic predator as a biological sampler reveals taxonomical and vertical resource partitioning among three poorly known deep-sea fishes”. Nature, Scientific Reports 13, 16078 (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-41298-9
2022
· R. S. Chen, E. J. Portner & C. A. Choy. “Gelatinous cephalopods as important prey for a deep-sea fish predator”. Marine Biology 169, 155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04116-w
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2021
· Scripps Student Spotlight. A Master of Advanced Studies student fuses art and science in order to understand the natural world. Scripps news, scripps.ucsd.edu/news.
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2019
· Arquine. ‘holLa’. Article about the design of the offices of SecondHome in Los Ángeles. Revista trimestral de arquitectura y diseño. 21st of November of 2019, Ciudad de México, México.
· Designboom. ‘60 oval-shaped offices set in nature’. Article by Philip Stevens about the offices of SecondHome Hollywood, photography by Iwan Baan. 20th of November of 2019. Designboom Magazine.
· C Magazine. ‘A first for community-focused co-working in California’. Article by Degen Pener about Second Home Hollywood, photography by Rainer Hosch. Fall/Winter 2019, California, U.S.A.
· Dezeen. ‘A return to physical material things’. Article by Amy Frearson about the project ‘Libería’ in London, 22nd of February of 2016, and article by Calum Lindsay about the project of Second Home Hollywood, 3rd of December of 2019, Dezeen Ltd, London, United Kingdom.
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2017
· Architecture Today. ‘Present Imperfect’. Article about the project ‘Librería’ in London, 7th of July of 2017. Photography by Iwan Baan. Architecture Today Magazine, United Kingdom.
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2016
· Wallpaper. ‘Reading matter’. Article by Ellie Stathaki about the design of ‘Librería’, photography by Iwan Baan. 22nd of February of 2016, WorldHQ, London, United Kingdom.
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2014
· El Croquis. #171. ‘Vacilante Naturaleza’, page 208. Article about the design of the Rooftop Café in London Bridge, London. Published and edited by Fernando Márquez Cecilia and Richard Levene. El Croquis Editorial, 2014, Madrid, España.
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WORKSHOPS / SEMINARS ATTENDED
September 2023
Marine Mammals and Vessel Noise · DOSITS, University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, 45 Upper College Rd, Kingston, RI 02881.
Biodiversity, Ecology and the Biological Carbon Pump in the Ocean Twilight Zone · Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1050.
April – November 2022
Underwater Acoustics · Modelling and Soundscapes · DOSITS, University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography in partnership with Inspire Environmental of Newport, 45 Upper College Rd, Kingston, RI 02881.
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January 2021
Science of Whales · Understanding the history, informing conservation. Biennial International Conference, American Cetacean Society, Pacific Grove, CA 93950.
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April – November 2021
Underwater Acoustics · Monitoring and Abatement · DOSITS, University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography in partnership with Inspire Environmental of Newport, 45 Upper College Rd, Kingston, RI 02881.
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October – November 2020
Microplastic Effect on Human and Ecological Health. California Ocean Protection Council, 1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311, Sacramento, CA 95814.
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RESEARCH INTERESTS
I have a particular interest in exploring the anatomical and physiological adaptations of secondary marine forms to life in the ocean. My current focus involves studying the mechanisms of acoustic reception in Mysticetes, specifically examining the cranial anatomy of the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) to identify the morphological structures enabling low-frequency hearing. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, I combine computational linguistics with biological data to overcome some limitations associated with studying living specimens. The goal is to reveal homologous trends across taxa, shedding light on the fundamental morphological elements crucial for whale hearing. This framework is integral to understanding marine mammal temporary and permanent threshold shifts induced by human noise in the ocean.
Sharing a similar passion for the anatomy and physiology of fish, I conduct comparative studies on the gastrointestinal anatomy of mid-water fishes. My primary focus is to integrate these studies with biochemical analyses of the organs and contents of the digestive system. The objective is to discern morphological trends that can be linked to the feeding habits, metabolism, and ecology of different species.
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RELEVANT SKILLS
· Fluent in Spanish and English, conversational in French · Certified advanced open water diver
· Experienced in Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut and Microsoft Office · Experienced in graphic design and video
· Accomplished at croquis drawing and quick sketching · Ability to work at sea
· Academic training in Biological Censuses and Conservation · Experienced in data collection
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