My name is Ana Laura Navas and I hold a PhD in Biological Sciences. I graduated from UNcuyo-Faculty of Medical Sciences-PROBIOL-Mendoza and I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2021, I joined the career of scientific research at CONICET. I am actively involved in research activities within the PROBIEN-IIQ Group, located at UNSJ-CONICET. Throughout my academic journey, I have focused on studying cryptogamic communities in the soil, which play a significant role in improving nutrient availability, microtopography, and microenvironmental conditions (such as temperature, humidity, pH, etc.) at the soil level. I have authored the book "Toxic Plants for Livestock" and have contributed as an author and co-author to book chapters on the restoration of degraded areas. I am a member of the Argentine Network for Restoration and the Argentine Botanical Society. Currently, I am studying the tolerance of cryptogamic communities to residues derived from oil exploitation. I possess extensive experience in restoration of degraded environments and in the evaluation of bioindicators of contamination. In recent years, I have actively contributed to the field of cryptogamic communities, providing valuable information on their diversity and coverage in arid areas, their spatial distribution, their interaction with vegetation patches, and their contributions to thermal buffering and soil roughness, as well as their impact on key ecosystem functions.