Marine naturalist since a childhood on the intertidal coastline of Vila do Conde. Deep sea and coral research developed at the Azores, where her academic path began. Explorer at deep NE Atlantic Ocean during 16 research cruises. Driven by a main research interest, Octocorallia, using an integrated approach of taxonomy and zoogeography. Collections provide her with samples essential to put the puzzle together.
After more than a decade collecting, cataloguing and teaching curation of a marine invertebrate collection, she defends the value of collections and taxonomy. She is the manager of the Portuguese Blue Biobank, a collection of the future.
