• Paleoecology and paleoenvironment and their influence on hominin expansion
• The mapping of ancient vegetation units and landscape evolution
• Availability of plant food resources

2021 Thesis in Earth Sciences at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt/Main, Germany: "High-resolution palynological analysis of the Early Pleistocene regional environment before, during, and after the first expansion of early Homo into southern Spain".

2015 Master’s degree in Advanced Paleontology. Thesis title: “Palynological study of the Lower Cretaceous section at Cortes de Arenoso (Castellón)” (Complutense University of Madrid & University of Alcalá).

2014 Master’s degree in Geological Processes and Resources. Thesis title: “Palynofacies analysis of the Escucha Formation and the Cretaceous desert system of the Utrillas Group in the Iberian Range near Teruel, and evaluation of source rocks” (Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid).

2013 Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM): Thesis title: “A geological and paleontological study of La Lastrilla, Segovia” (Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid).

British Council Fellowship Program, 2015

Paleontological excavations and surveys of Miocene sites in Madrid (Cerro de los Batallones and Somosaguas fossil sites) and Kenya (Rusinga Island).

Ochando, J., Carrión, J., Altolaguirre, Y., Munuera, M., Amorós, G., Jiménez-Moreno, G., Solano-García, J., Barsky, D., Luzón, C., Sánchez-Bandera, C., Serrano-Ramos, A., Toro-Moyano, I., Saarinen, J., Blain, H-A., Bocherens, H., Oms, O., Agustí, J., Fortelius, M., Jimenez-Arenas, J. M. (2022): Palynological investigations in the Orce Archaeological Zone, Early Pleistocene of Southern Spain. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 304, 104725.

Postigo-Mijarra, J. M., Altolaguirre, Y., Moreno-Domínguez, R., Barrón, E., Casas-Gallego, M. (2022): Climatic reconstruction at the early Miocene La Rinconada mine (Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin, eastern Spain) based on the Coexistence Approach, CLAMP, and LMA analysis. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 104714.

Altolaguirre, Y., Schulz, M., Gibert, L., & Bruch, A.A. (2021): Mapping Early Pleistocene environments and the availability of plant food as a potential driver of early Homo presence in the Guadix-Baza Basin (Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 155, 102986. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102986.

Altolaguirre, Y., Bruch, A.A., & Gibert, L. (2020): A long Early Pleistocene pollen record from the Baza Basin (SE Spain): Major contributions to the paleoclimate and paleovegetation of Southern Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 231, 106199. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106199

Altolaguirre, Y., Postigo-Mijarra, J. M., Barrón, E., Carrión, J. S., Leroy, S. A., & Bruch, A. A. (2019). An environmental scenario for the earliest hominins in the Iberian Peninsula: Early Pleistocene paleovegetation and paleoclimate. Review of Paleobotany and Palynology, 260, 51–64.

Altolaguirre, Y. (2015): Palynofacial analysis of the Escucha Formation and the Utrillas Group in Teruel (Spain). Relationship with the evolution of the sedimentary systems and evaluation of oleogenic potential. Current Trends in Paleontology and Evolution, XIII EJIP, 22–24.

Garcia-Mayordomo, J., Ortiz, J. E., Torres, T., Insua-Arevalo, J. M., Martinez-Diaz, J. J., Altolaguirre, Y., & Martin-Banda, R. (2014): Amino acid racemization dating of Upper Pleistocene-Holocene terrestrial gastropods from a Mediterranean region (Murcia, SE Spain). EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts 16, 10832.