I graduated in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP). During the last year of my graduation, I’ve completed an internship at CIBIO-InBIO under the supervision of Dr. José Carlos Brito and Dr. Zbyszek Boratyński. The project focused on phylogeographic patterns of a small rodent, Felovia vae, in Mauritania mountains using mitochondrial DNA as molecular marker and faeces as source of DNA. This internship allowed me to expand my knowledge on my main areas of interest, such as Biogeography, Conservation Genetics and Evolution, focusing on vertebrates inhabiting the arid and semi-arid environments of the Sahara/Sahel region. Afterwards, I’ve completed my Master thesis in Biodiversity, Genetic and Evolution, also at CIBIO-InBIO/FCUP, which started at 2013. During the second semester of my 1st year, through the ERASMUS program, I went to BOKU (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences) in Vienna, Austria, in order to improve my knowledge on wildlife ecology and management. I finished my Master thesis in 2015, which followed the same line of research implemented during my internship, focusing on the biogeography and phylogenetic position of a Sahara-Sahel mountain endemic, Felovia vae (Ctenodactylidae) in West Africa (Mauritania and Mali. This time, I’ve assessed the phylogenetic relationships among all members of the Ctenodactylidae family and improved the understanding on the influence of Pleistocene climatic oscillation on Felovia vae dispersal corridors by integrating phylogeographic and ecological niche-modelling approaches. I have completed one field mission to Mauritania with about 11, 000 km covered in 38 days, in 2016, which enhanced my fieldwork techniques. Currently, I am doing an internship in Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, through the ERASMUS program, under the supervision of Dr. Josef Bryja. One of the primary aims of the project is to disentangle the role of genetics and environment in forming population structure of Savannah rodents in Eastern Africa. During the internship, I‘ll be involved in all steps of comparative phylogeographical analysis, i.e. from collection of genetic data to analysis of distributional patterns (e.g. species distribution modelling).
