I graduated in Biology from the University of Lisbon in 1996 and received my PhD degree from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland) in 2007. From the time of graduation until enrolling in a PhD, I worked as a Senior Technician at the Nature Conservation Institute (Lisbon), Portuguese Ministry of the Environment; worked as scientific consultant for the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in Guinea-Bissau, developing a Conservation Plan for the West African manatee; and was temporarily assigned (3 years) to the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries/University of the Azores (DOP/UAz), to work as a Research Assistant in the scope of an EC LIFE-Nature Project. I started a post-doc in 2007 at the Centre of IMAR of the University of the Azores (IMAR/UAz) and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) (USA). In 2013 I was awarded a 5-year contract as Senior Research Associate (Investigador Auxiliar under FCT Investigator Programme) at IMAR. From 2014 to 2020 I worked as a Principal Research Associate at IMAR. I am currently a Principal Research Associate at the University of the Azores.