I was born in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, in 1976. I studied Biology in the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, where I also obtained my PhD degree studying the birds that follow the tidal movements at the Tagus estuary.
I then embarked on other adventures, to the remote islands of Selvagens and Desertas. There I studied the migration of seabird species such as Cory’s shearwaters and Bulwer’s petrels. After that I had myself migrated to another Atlantic Island – Great Britain – to work at BirdLife International (Cambridge), the world’s largest nature conservation partnership.
More recently I returned to the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon to take a position of assistant professor in Ecology and to join the research unit cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes.
I lived almost my entire life in Oeiras, close to Lisbon. Very early in my childhood I showed a particular interest for the animals and plants taking over the suburban gardens and vacant plots of my local neighbourhood. These early explorations, together with the many books I grew with, were the likely foundations of my ongoing passion for science, ecology and conservation.
You can find my contact at my institutional page.
Short bio (and some important milestones):
1994-1999: First degree in Biology (Biologia Aplicada aos Recursos Animais – ramo terrestre). Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL), Portugal.
1999-2004: Research assistant (Herpetology and Ornithology ) in scientific projects (Alqueva Dam environmental studies, University of Evora; Sat-Tagis and Pred-Tagis, FCUL), Portugal
1999-2010: Member of the board of directors of SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves), 4 years as Vice-president.
1998-2002: PhD in Ecology. Factors affecting the use of estuarine areas by waders: implications for their conservation. FCUL, Portugal
2009-2013: Pos-doc researcher at the Eco-Ethology Research Unit – ISPA-IU and Portuguese National Museum of Natural History and Science, Portugal
2014: Launch of the Portuguese version of the book Outside, a guide to discovering nature
2013-2016: Marine analyst at BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK
2014: Launch of the current version of the Seabird Tracking Database
2016-2021: Marine Science Coordinator at BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK
2021: Designation, by the OSPAR Commission, of a new Marine Protected Area for Seabirds in North-Atlantic (North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea-basin), as the result of a 5-years project led by the science team of BirdLife International
2021-ongoing: Assistant professor (professora auxiliar) at FCUL, Portugal