Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (DCEA) NOVA School of Science and Technology (FCT NOVA) Campus de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

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Degree in Biology, Lisbon University and PhD in Environmental Sciences, New University of Lisbon.

Since 1992 develops her research work in the Institute of Marine Research - IMAR, today integrated in the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - MARE, coordinating the MARE.Nova Pole and the research line Environmental Risk.

Following her PhD in Contaminated Estuarine Environments, pursued a pluri- and interdisciplinary research, having as main objectives: i) the development of methodologies for evaluating the quality and environmental risk of sedimentary environments in coastal ecosystems, integrating studies of metallic and organic contamination with toxicological effects. These studies led to the development of methodologies for defining the spatial sampling strategy, innovative indices of sediment contamination and disturbance of the benthic macrofauna, the development of an acute toxicity test and contributed to the progress of the use of biomarkers of exposure and effect. ii) the understanding of the biological effects of environmental contamination by investigating a set of biomarkers and the biological response to exposure to contaminants and more recently microplastics, integrating genetic, biochemical and histopathological biomarkers with individual responses. These studies, which used invertebrates and vertebrates allowed to deepen the understanding of biological processes triggered at various levels of biological organization, from the molecule to the individual, in response to exposure to individual contaminants, and to complex mixtures and thus contributed also to the progress in the use of biomarkers in methodologies of environmental quality and sedimentary risk assessment.

Ongoing studies include the development of molecular methods applied to the monitoring of benthic macrofauna communities in estuaries, studies in which the risk assessment of contaminated sedimentary environments includes the risk to human health and the investigation of the effects of different trophic stages of the sediment in the estuarine and marine trophic chains, developing methodologies that will allow monitoring with an ecosystemic approach, essential for a sustainable exploitation of resources.

ORCID:  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8479-4941