I am fascinated by insects and their diversity. I stated studying Portuguese dragonflies (Odonata) and grasshoppers and crickets (Orthoptera) focusing in two main questions: who are they? and where are they?. I devoted my studies to the ascertainment of the country inventories and to the taxonomic revision of specific groups. During my master I made a revision the Portuguese fauna of the Superfamily Grylloidea (Insecta, Orthoptera, Ensifera). Over time I became more and more interested in species conservation. I have been a collaborator of IUCN in the assessment of conservation status of Dragonflies since 2007. The outcomes include the North African Odonata Red List, the Mediterranean Odonata Red List, the European Odonata Red List and the Mediterranean Atlas of Dragonflies. The growing interest in conservation let to the ongoing PhD thesis development devoted to Insect Biodiversity Conservation focusing on dragonflies as a case study. My project aims to unravel genetic diversity distribution in Coenagrion mercuriale and to identify the evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) in a phylogeographic context. I have given special attention to the origin, relationships and conservation relevance of North African populations as these populations are under high threat. The combination of environmental, genetic and distributional data will provide a comprehensive insight on endangered Odonata species diversity and aid conservation planning.

Useful Links:

Research ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/L-7141-2013

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6884-3966