Absolutely passionate by birds and the Bijagós. I am a Guinea-Bissau PhD student in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL) since 2017, and a guest PhD student at the Royal University of Groningen (RUG).

Presently I work with shorebirds and my research project is part of a larger interdisciplinary one dedicated to the study of the intertidal ecosystem of the Bijagós Biosphere Reserve, from the perspective of migratory shorebirds (waders). My supervisors are Prof. Dr. José Pedro Granadeiro and Drª Teresa Catry from FCUL, and Prof. Dr. Theunis Piersma from RUG/NIOZ.

My interest in birds and in science in general grew significantly after I finished my Bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, and started an internship with the Guinea-Bissau National Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP), in Guinea-Bissau.

After 4 years I started a MSc programme in the University of Lisbon, during which I ended up working with vulture conservation in Guinea-Bissau as my thesis project supervised by Prof. Dr. Paulo Catry. Find out more about what we’ve done here.

Presently I am dedicated to investigating the role of migratory shorebirds in mangrove-influenced tropical intertidal ecosystems. I am specifically looking at the biotic and abiotic variables that are influencing the distribution of foraging shorebirds on Bijagós intertidal systems using counts and satellite imagery to model their distribution. I am also studying the impact that shorebird predation has on intertidal food-webs and their role in maintaining the resilience of this very important East Atlantic intertidal wintering area dominated by (but not necessarily depending entirely on) mangrove forests. Find more about this project here: https://birdecology.wixsite.com/tidalwings/waders-of-the-bijagos

 

Photo credits. Vultures: Ana Coelho (left), Mohamed Henriques (right). Slideshow: Hellio & Van Ingen - IBAP (shorebirds), Theunis Piersma (people).