Maria da Luz Mathias is the group leader of Adaptation Biology and Ecological Processes in the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and a Full Professor at the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon (FCUL). She is the Director of the Bioterium of FCUL, member of the ORBEA of FCUL, member of the Administration Board of the Associação FCiências, and a partner in the platform ‘Conhecimento Verde’ of the Ministry of the Environment. She was Head of Department of Animal Biology of FCUL in 2005-2007 and 2014-2017 and Coordinator of the Centre for Environmental Biology between 2000-2009. She graduated in Biology in 1976 and obtained a PhD in Ecology and Systematics in 1984 in the University of Lisbon. During the PhD she had externship training in Germany, France and UK. Her main research interest focuses on the study of physiological and ecological mechanisms responsible for the adaptation of species to different environments. In these studies, she has been using mainly small mammals as indicators. Within this research area she published around 100 papers in international journals, 5 books and 22 chapters in books. Over the years she had played several roles in the University including teaching and technical-scientific management, she has chaired several sessions in international meetings, she is a member of the Editorial Board of Archives of Zoological Studies, and acted as peer reviewer of projects and grants for national and international financing agencies. She was the Director of the PhD programme of Biology of FCUL between 2009-2013. She is at present Vice-Director of the PhD programme in Biology and Ecology of Global Changes. She also participated in more than 160 panels for academic degrees and professorship positions. She had participated in several environmental monitoring studies (total 16) and in numerous projects of I&D (total 15 as PI, total 9 as team member), has been also very involved in the orientation of training courses, master's degrees (total 22), doctorates (total 16) and post-doctoral programs (total 7) and in the evaluation of projects and research grants. She is a founder member of the Societas Europaea Mammalogica and she had been highly involved as national coordinator in the 1st ed of the Atlas of European Mammals and at present in the preparation of the 2nd edition, in the 1st and 2nd eds of the Red Book of Portuguese Mammals.