PhD Candidate
University of Tasmania
Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies & Centre for Marine Socioecology
“People say to me, ‘How did you first become interested in animals?’, and I look at them and I say: ‘Was there a time when you were not interested in animals?’ It’s the first sort of pleasure, delight and joy you get as a child. As a child grows, he becomes aware of all sorts of things, sex or computers and the internet and so on. But if he loses the first treasure, he’s lost something that will give him joy and delight for the rest of his life.”
David Attenborough
Back in the days, I wanted to be an artist but... the skills were not great... as you can see in the photo.
But, I soon discovered my passion for nature. I become extremely interested in biodiversity conservation and highly motivated to develop new practical skills as I progressed in my studies and life.
I’m looking forward to contributing to real world-conservation and the best way to do this is to work where biodiversity is decreasing at the largest rate.
I’m an early-career conservation biologist from Portugal, extremely interested in environmental conservation. I am mostly driven in understanding the anthropogenic impacts on wildlife and ecosystems and of uncovering the complexities of human impacts on ecosystems.
At the moment my PhD research is focused in measuring the effectiveness of multiple mitigation strategies aimed to reduce marine debris in the environment at different organizational levels (from local to national) by working closely with Australian communities and Tangaroa Blue Foundation (Australian NGO), picking up loads of debris Australia wide.
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My previous experiences include a half-year internship within a community-based conservation project ‘Turtles of Amazon: Preserving for the Future’ at the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Brazil. The contact with local communities gave me unique inside knowledge of a community-based project, including establishment and management. This also allowed me to gain valuable social and ecological experience under challenging working conditions. So far and with no doubt that this was one of the best experiences of my work-life.
One important mark of work was my MSc thesis that not only provided me with relevant skills, was also the beginning of my path working with environmental pollution.
I was able to identify possible variables affecting the distribution and abundance of micro-plastics and (2) an understanding of the complexities of the propagation and ingestion of micro-plastics through marine food chains. This project also provided me with the theoretical and practical knowledge in macro- and micro-plastic sampling. You can find the link to the respective published paper in the 'Publications' tab. :)
I am extremely proud and happy with all of the work experiences so far that allowed me not only to improve my skills and knowledge but to also grow as an individual.
(On the left photo, we were working to evaluate the diet of the Bulweria bulwerii)
Besides work (which is also one of my hobbies) I like to travel, hike (when my lungs allow it), camping and to explore the world around me.
