I am an early-career researcher at the Okeanos Institute, University of the Azores. I began my scientific studies at the University of Porto with a degree in Biochemistry (2006). In 2010, I moved to the Azores and initiated my career in Marine Sciences, with the study of the biology and ecology of hydrothermal mussels and cold-water corals. In 2018 I completed my PhD in Marine Biology at the University of the Azores. The PhD work focused on the microbial ecology and chemosynthetic processes associated with deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields of the Azores region. Such studies provided me with a good background in marine (meta)genomics and with skills to develop investigations on ecological processes, especially related to deep-sea ecosystems.

My research activities are centered in the knowledge of biological and ecological processes that occur in the deep sea. I am currently leading a FCT project in the field of marine metagenomics, that studies the role played by coral-associated microbes in mediating cold-water corals response to environmental induced stresses (e.g. ocean acidification and deep-sea mining), in aquaria. One of my current research interests is extending the use of new molecular-based tools as a mean to generate genetic data aiming to improve biodiversity and species delimitation studies in deep-sea ecosystems.